To change people's death's
by WinneThePoohLover
Summary: In February during the Golden Trio's lunch, there suddenly appeared a set of books about Harry Potter's life at school and at home during seven years. With a note that said that they have to read the books in the great hall with professor Umbridge, some other people come to help and support Harry; Sirius aka Snuffles, Remus, Moody, Tonks and others. ALL BOOKS SPOILERS. ON HIATUS
1. The-boy-who-lived

**I hope you like this. This story is like how the people react on story, Harry life and the things he can do. Here is chapter 1.**

Chapter 1 The Boy Who Lived

In the middle of February during the breakfast, Harry and his friends were quietly eating. There were some conversations going on around them but they didn't pay attention to the conversations. At the Head Table there was also nothing going on until there suddenly appeared set of seven books in front of Delores Umbridge. The moment the set of books appeared the whole Great Hall was silent, there was a note on top of the books. She asked for attention so she could read the note aloud, the note was saying.

 _To Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic (they will come soon),_

 _I have my attention that you do not believe that Voldemort a.k.a. You-Know-Who has not returned. I have sent you a set of seven books each book represent a year of a boy of his life in Hogwarts and his summer. These books do not lie, I have checked them with truth spells._

 _I have given you the books for another reason then you can know the truth because in a couple of years there will be a battle at Hogwarts many, many people will die. I have given you the books so you can change the future. Soon people will be coming here to listen to the books. I say one thing DO NOT kill each other. The books are written in a boy's point of view but you must not think less of the person because of his thoughts._

 _Your future person (and my mother and dad died during the battle which comes in a couple of years),_

 _P.S. the books are about Harry Potter_

 _P.S.S. I am surely sorry Harry but I must let them read the books,and during the books you can free a person (a beloved one)_

Harry was disappointed but he understand this. The Weasley twin react with "OH Harry we can know all of your adventures"

Harry responded with a shrug but he became happy when he saw all the people in the door opening because they were Albus Dumbledore, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin with his dog called Snuffles a.k.a. Sirius Black, the rest of the Weasley family, Alastor Moody a.k.a. Mad-Eye, Kingsley, Oliver Wood and Amelia Bones who is Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Harry was slightly less happy because of the Minister of Magic who is Cornelius Fudge and his assistant Percy Weasley.

When Snuffles spotted Harry, he ran up to him and he jumped on him and started licking his face while barking happily. Harry got after a while enough of it and said "Oi! Snuffles, Get off!"

Finally, Snuffles let Harry go, who casted a cleaning charm on himself and Harry sat back with his friends with Snuffles on his lap. Remus Lupin, Oliver Wood, Tonks and the Weasley's sat down with the Gryffindor's and the Ministry people sat down at the Head Table expect Amelia Bones who sat down with the Hufflepuff's. Tonks welcomed Harry with "Wotcher Harry, I finally get to know your amazing adventures." Harry nodded with agreement but he didn't like it that he is life would be exposed to other people.

"Hello Lupin." Harry greed Remus.

Dumbledore went to sit down at the middle of the Head Table. Dumbledore broke the silent with "Shou we begin with reading, I will begin with reading."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and announced the first book's title.

 **Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone**

The Golden Trio paled with at the title. Many people frowned at the title because they had not idea how the philosopher's stone had something to do with Harry Potter. Harry is not going to like this book. Most professors also paled at the title but they didn't know how much Harry had to do with it.

 **CHAPTER ONE THE BOY WHO LIVED**

"Who would that be, Forge?" asked one Weasley twin to other.

"I don't know, maybe our Harrykins." answered the other Weasley happily.

 **Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"You welcome." said the twin grinning.

 **They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"Huh, I wonder how Harry is related to them. He's always involved with something strange and mysterious." Ron said, faking a surprise. Neville and Hermione nodded with agreement, and they both burst out laughing when Harry let out an angry "Oi!"

 **Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What are drills?" exclaimed nearly all the purebloods.

The teacher of muggle studies came with a amazing idea, "Write all the weird or interesting things down on a piece of paper."

 **He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

Harry groaned because it is just aunt Petunia and Snap thought _You haven't change a bit at all._

The twin's said "He is a walrus, lets call him that" and Sirius as dog – Snuffles- barked.

 **The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy.**

Harry laughed, the twin and Ron also laughed, all the other people looks with a confused expression on their face.

"Dudley is anything but small" he said while laughing.

 **The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"What is wrong with the Potters, they are the finest people!" yelled the Weasley's, Remus, Tonks, Hermione, all the other friends of Harry, some people of Hufflepuff and some of Ravenclaw

"Everything!" said all the Slytherins and Snape mumbled it.

 **Mrs. Potters was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister,**

"That is mean, incredible mean! And Harry are you even related to them." yelled Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes I am related to them." Harry groaned.

 **Because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband**

"James was not a good-for-nothing friend, he was an incredible good friend!" yelled Remus but surprisingly loud.

 **Were as unDurslyish as it was possible to be.**

"That is not even a word!" yelled the Ravenclaws, Hermione and surprisingly Remus.

 **The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.**

"That the Potters are awesome!" yelled the twins and Ron.

 **The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potter away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"There is nothing wrong with Harry! He is an amazing person, sweet, kindly you can say it." said all his friends, Remus, the Weasley's and some people from other Houses. But the Slytherins kept quiet.

 **When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over country.**

"Yeah strange and mysterious things awesome!" yelled the Weasley twin, nobody reacted on them.

 **Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

"Why now the most boring tie? Why not his second most boring tie?" asked the twin.

"Because he is the most boring and most stupid person." said Harry. While the twins couldn't believe it, he made a joke.

 **And Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"Brat" said Mrs. Weasley.

 **None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.**

"Brat" said at least all the women and some men.

" **Little tyke,"**

All the students started laughing and some teachers chuckled or grinned.

 **Chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map.**

"McGonagall!" yelled the Gryffindor's, Remus, Tonks while Weasley twin yelled the loudest. Professor McGonagall glared at all the Gryffindor's trying to silence them but it didn't work immediately, it took a while to silence them.

 **For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road he watch the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive – no,** _ **looking**_ **at the sign; cats couldn't read maps** _ **or**_ **signs. As Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

"He is one side-minded, isn't he?" Ron asked Harry.

"He is so stupid that he only can think on one thing at the time." answered Harry, the Weasley twin looked at each other and then they started laughing.

 **But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"What is wrong with cloaks?!" said a lot of Purebloods. And of course Hermione answered the dumbest question.

"Muggle do not wear cloaks, they wore cloak centuries ago." People were still not completely sure of the answer, but they weren't complaining.

 **Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes – the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak!**

"AHHHHHH GREEN!" yelled all the Gryffindors except Harry because secretly green is his favourite colour. All the other houses started to laugh, and the Slytherins laughed the loudest.

 **The nerve of him!**

"You are completely right, the nerve of him to wear green!" said Harry while he laughed. The Weasley thought it was incredible funny so they laughed even louder.

 **But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – these people were obviously collecting for something … yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

 **Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning.** _ **He**_ **didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight,**

"It is just normal to see owls during daylight, they bring your post." said a pureblood as it is normal to see them.

"Muggle don't see them during daylight, if they see them it is during night. Muggles use other muggles to bring their post around." said Harry.

 **Though people down in the street did;**

"They must be wizards and witches." said Ron.

 **They pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

"I think that this day is one of his most productive days, because he yells at least ten times a day." Harry mumbled as if it is just normal to yell and to shout at people.

 **He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he though he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Did he stretch his legs to walk. Ohhhh it is unbelievable. I thought he would buy at least five buns because he is then more like himself." said Harry unbelievable, after he said this the Weasley twins, Ron and Tonks started to laugh.

The Weasley twins looked confused why Harry never joked as he does now so they asked Harry "Harry, where is all your humour? We could make a great trio to make pranks."

"You know, saving the world. It became my daily thing." said Harry as it was nothing. At Harry's answer Tonks, Remus, Ron, Hermione began to laugh and Sirius as dog began to bark happily even they know it was serious.

 **He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

" **The Potters, that's right, that what I hear – "**

"– **yes, their son, Harry – "**

"What has Harry done this time?" asked the Weasley twins suspiciously.

"I did nothing, I swear." said Harry.

 **Mr. Dursley stopped dead.**

"I wish he did" mumbled Harry so nobody could hear it, but Remus could hear because of his sensible ears. Remus gave Harry an one-arm hug.

 **Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whispers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

 **He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone,**

A lot of pureblood or interesting people wrote the word telephone down on their paper.

 **And had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache,**

Dumbledore chuckled on this, and he copied the book but he didn't stroked his mustache but his long gray beard.

 **Thinking … no, he was being stupid.**

The Weasley twins laughed at his statement and Harry chuckled softly.

 **Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter**

"Potter is not a common name" Neville said.

"Potter is a common name in the Muggle world but in the wizarding world it is not a common name." said Hermione to the unanswered question and to the unknown question.

 **Who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew** _ **was**_ **called Harry.**

"Did he know your name? Harry" said Ginny.

"I don't think so that he knew and he still does not know." Harry answered Ginny question.

 **He'd never even seen the boy.**

"That is bad, to not even see your nephew!" said Mrs. Weasley, after Mrs. Weasley said that Mr. Weasley tried to calm Mrs. Weasley down.

 **It might have been Harvey.**

"Harvey Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived – " said Fred.

"Nah it doesn't have a ring to it." George finished. Harry started laughing on their attempt of bringing happiness into the Great Hall.

"Lily never liked the name Harvey, she liked the name Harry." Remus said and Snuffles barked happily like he agreed with Remus, Harry smiled at the statement of his mother.

 **Or Harold.**

"Harold Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived – " said Fred.

"Nah it doesn't have also a ring to it." George finished

 **There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always go so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if** _ **he'd**_ **had a sister like that …**

"Like what!" yelled all the Gryffindor's, and the people who knew Lily.

"Like a witch." Harry said the unanswered question.

 **But all the same, those people in cloaks …**

 **He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

" **Sorry," he grunted,**

"Unbelievable! I didn't know that he knew that word." Harry said as it was not possible.

 **As the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles lie yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

"Professor Flitwick is that you?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes" Flitwick mumbled and professor McGonagall was shocked.

"Filius!" said McGonagall loud and clear.

 **And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"Fitted your arms around my uncle, professor Flitwick?" Harry asked because he couldn't believe that maybe his professor's arms could fit around his body.

"No" said Flitwick and Harry, the Weasley twins laughed at his answer.

 **Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

The Weasley twins looked horrified. Imagination was everything to them. How someone could live without it, they had no idea.

 **As He pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw – and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had same marking around its eyes.**

" **Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

"You can't shoo professor McGonagall –" stated George.

"– only we could" Fred finished. McGonagall just glared at them.

 **Was this normal cat behaviour?**

"No, but it's normal Professor McGonagall behaviour." George and Fred said out loud in unison. McGonagall just glared at them again and Harry and Ron started to laugh.

 **Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

 **Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"Brat." many people said but mainly females and mothers.

 **Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

" **And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." the newscaster allowed himself a grin.**

" **Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

" **Well, Ted,"**

"Hey, that's my dad! I heard him talking about this." Tonks said, smiling at what her dad had said.

 **Said the weatherman, "I don't know about that but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early – it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

 **Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…**

"Wow! He's putting it together." Ron exclaimed in mock amazement.

"For the first time he is using his brain. Unbelievable." Harry exclaimed and everyone who knew the Dursley's started to laugh.

 **Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er – Petunia, dear – you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

 **As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"That's awful!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley and a lot of other people and the loudest next to Mrs. Weasley was Remus and Snuffles barked angrily. While Snape mentally cursed Petunia, of course she pretended Lily didn't exist. She was better at everything than her.

" **No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

" **Funny stuffy on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"**

" **So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

" **Well, I thought.. maybe… it was something to do with… you know…** _ **her**_ **crowd."**

"HER CROWD?" every witch and wizard expect the ministry people and some Slytherins exclaimed angrily at this, insulted.

"You know witches and wizards and will you please CALM DOWN" Harry said while trying to calm them down. Some of the people of them were shocked how angry how could be.

 **Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name 'Potter'. He decided he didn't dare.**

"Coward." many Gryffindors muttered.

 **Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son – he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

" **I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

" **What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

" **Harry. Nast, common name, if you asked me."**

"Nobody asked you." Ginny snapped. Harry looked at her funnily.

"What?"

"Ginny, you are talking to a book." this caused Ginny to blush bright red.

" **Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

 **He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

 **Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of – well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

"A pair of what?" snarled McGonagall, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Remus and majority of the people. Harry looked at them warily. He was seriously considering casting a Silencing Charm or Full Body-Bind Curse on them. Merlin knew what they would do when they hear what Dursleys usually said about his parents.

 **The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was not reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on – he yawned and turned over – it couldn't affect them.**

 **How very wrong he was.**

"I wish he was correct." Harry grumbled to himself, but people near them heard it. They glanced at each other uneasily. It couldn't have been that bad, right?

 **Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

"That would be impossible for me. I have to move once in a while."Parvati said, wincing at the thought of sitting so still.

 **A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

 **Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, bucked boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it have been broken at least twice.**

"Dumbledore!" exclaimed all the students, Remus, Tonks except the teachers, ministry people and the Slytherins.

 **This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

Dumbledore stood up and bow and sat down again.

 **Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

"Oh, I knew." said Dumbledore, chuckling. "I just didn't care."

 **He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

 **He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

"Cool!"

"I want one!"

Many people exclaimed, loudest being the twins. Dumbledore just shook his head fondly.

 **He clicked it again – the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer**

"Actually, it is called the Deluminator." Dumbledore corrected.

 **Back inside the his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

" **Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

Fred and George grinned widely and others laughed.

 **He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the marking the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

" **How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

" **My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

" **You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

" **All day? When you could been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

"Oh, yes. Some people just died and they celebrate." Harry muttered darkly. Remus squeezed his had reassuringly and Snuffles licked his face but it did little effect on Harry. He hated how people only celebrated. He hated he was famous for his parent's death. He also hated people's ever-changing opinion about him.

 **Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

"How do you sniff angrily?" a first year from Gryffindor asked with curiously. It caused everyone to laugh, and the twins even tried to sniff angrily but failed . Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily at the Head Table, causing another burst of laugher.

" **Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no – even the Muggles have noticed something going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stare down in Kent – I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

" **You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

"That was an extremely long war." said Harry calculated.

" **I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

 **She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know- Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

" **It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"A what?" many purebloods asked aloud.

" **A what?"**

" **A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of"**

" **No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.**

Dumbledore frowned a little. It was _always_ right moment for lemon drops.

" **As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone –"**

" **My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense – for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort"**

Flinch and some people screamed and others fainted.

"It's just a name!" Harry said loudly in irritated voice. He had to suppres an urge to roll his eyes.

"You better get used to it. This book will be in Harry's perspective so Voldemort's name will come out often." Hermione told them while ignoring flinches at 'Voldemort'.

 **Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all et so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who'. I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

" **I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone know you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

" **You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"Only because he is too noble to use them." Hermione said.

" **Only because you're too – well – noble to use them."**

Hermione blushed but stood by what she said and Harry and Ron laughed.

" **It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"Too, too much information. Professor Dumbledore." said the twins, Harry, Ron and some other Gryffindor's.

 **Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

Harry went to find the table very interesting.

 **It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

" **What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are – are – that they're – dead."**

Harry start to get tears in his eyes, Remus and Snuffles also start to get tears.

 **Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

" **Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus..."**

"James would have been glad to hear you cared. You were his favourite teacher." Remus told McGonagall, who just dabbed the edge of her eyes. In fact, many people had tears in their eyes, and Harry's tears were streaming down his cheeks.

 **Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.**

 **Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone."**

"He isn't dead." said Harry proudly.

 **Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

" **It's – it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

" **We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"You know, professor. But you don't want to share it." Harry muttered.

 **Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge.**

"Nice watch, Professor." Fred said in a weak attempt to lighten up the mood.

 **It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

" **Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

" **I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

" **You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore – you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"Thanks for caring, Professor." Harry said sadly. Professor McGonagall gave him a sad smile.

" **It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter?!" it was Hermione who shrieked. Harry had to hold both of her arm to restrain her from standing up to shout. "You expect them to understand the situation by just a letter?"

"Mrs. Granger, quiet down!" Professor McGonagall glared at her favourite student sternly. But it seemed to have very little effect on her, because Hermione didn't even sit down.

"Hermione, it happened years ago! Calm down, will you?" Harry exclaimed, and finally Hermione gave up. But she kept grumbling under her breath.

" **A letter?"**

The twins, Ron and Harry started to laugh and said all together "Hermione you are a mini-McGonagall." And they laughed harder.

 **Repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend – I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future – there will be books written about Harry – every child in our world will know his name!"**

"There isn't a Harry Potter day, is there?" Harry frantically asked and was relieved to get 'no' as the answer. Snape narrowed his eyes. The boy didn't like being famous? No, he was just acting for the public, yes that was it.

" **Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! And you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"It would have been better if you selected other people." Harry grumbled to himself, but Remus and Snuffles heard it anyways, thanks to their sensitive ears. They exchanged worried glances. Just how bad was Harry's life in the Dursleys?

 **Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said "Yes – yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

" **Hagrid's bringing him."**

" **You think it – wise – to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with my life. Just not my secrets." Harry said smiling, Hagrid gave him a smile and Ron and Hermione started to laugh.

" **I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"We have a mini-Dumbledore." said the twins happily and smiling.

" **I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to – what was that?"**

"What was what?" asked several students curiously.

 **A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"I want that motorcycle!" Fred and George exclaimed. Sirius barked at the mention of his motorcycle.

 **If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five time as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins.**

"He look intimidating, but he's really gentle." Harry, Ron and Hermione told the students and smiled at each other when they realized they were saying the same thing.

 **In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

" **Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

" **Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"If Sirius Black really wanted to kill me, then he wouldn't have gave his motorcycle to Hagrid." Harry said loudly.

" **No problems, were there?"**

" **No, sir – house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we were flyin' over Bristol."**

"Aww." Every female students cooed at Harry, causing him to blush and duck his head. His male friends chuckled at his behaviour, ignoring a glare sent by Harry.

 **Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, jus visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

Students turned around to see it, but Harry had already placed his hair over it, concealing it from the view.

" **Is that where –?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

" **Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

" **Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

Harry looked up at this, interested.

" **Even if I could, I wouldn't.**

He sagged back.

 **Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a prefect map of the London Underground.**

"Really?" George looked interested, Dumbledore smiled and nodded.

 **Well – give him her, Hagrid – we'd better get this over with."**

 **Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

" **Could I – could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

Sirius let out a bark, looking offended. Harry laughed lightly, scratching behind the dog's ears.

" **Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

" **S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead – an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles –"**

" **Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore steeped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.**

"YOU LEFT HIM ON THE DOORSTEP?!" Hermione screamed, struggling against Harry and Ron who was hold her arms to restrain her from standing up. "He could have gotten sick or wandered away! Death Eaters could have caught him!"

"Hermione, I'm fine!"

"No, you are not 'fine'! You could have got injured or killed!" The shouting match was cut off by Dumbledore.

"Ms. Granger, I assure you that I had placed protective spell and warming charm." Dumbledore replied calmly.

 **For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

" **Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. WE may as well go and join the celebrations."**

" **Yeah," said Hagrid in very muffled voice, "I'll takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall – Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

 **Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

" **I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

 **Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number.**

" **Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

"Thanks, I needed it." mumbled Harry.

 **A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, not that he would spend the next weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley… He meeting in secret all over the country were holding their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter – the boy who lived!"**

"That's the end of this chapter." said Dumbledore, "Who want to read next?"

Hermione's hand shot up in the air to nobody's surprise. Dumbledore levitated the book towards her and the began to read.

" **Chapter 2 The Vanishing Glass."**


	2. The vanishing glass

**I hope you like this. This story is like how the people react on story, Harry life and the things he can do. Here is chapter 2.**

Last chapter:

" _That's the end of this chapter." said Dumbledore, "Who want to read next?"_

 _Hermione's hand shot up in the air to nobody's surprise. Dumbledore levitated the book towards her and the began to read._

" _ **CHAPTER 2 THE VANISHING GLASS."**_

Chapter 2 The Vanishing Glass

" **CHAPTER 2 THE VANISHING GLASS."'**

Hermione read out loud. The twins bounced up and down with wide grins, barely containing their excitement. The others just rolled their eyes at them, not that the twins cared.

"Ah, are we going to heart about our infamous Boy-Who-Lived's accidental magic?" Fred asked eagerly, leaning towards Harry. George also bounded to Harry and slung his arm over the younger boy's shoulder.

"Care to explain what happened?" George asked. Harry just shook his head, causing the twins to pout.

While everyone else were busy trying to get comfortable, Harry casted a Silencing charm and a Body Bind curse on Sirius, who froze in his position.

"Sorry, Sirius." Harry mumbled an apology and thanked Merlin that not even Remus, who was sitting next to Sirius noticed it.

 **Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursley had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.**

"Really? The Burrow changes all the time." Bill asked interestedly. But before anyone could anyone could answer, he just shook his head, muttering to himself. "But of course they don't have certain twins armed with magic."

 **The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursley's front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets**

All of the students burst out laughing at this, including some adults.

 **\- but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

"And why is that, Harry? There should be some pictures of you." Hermione interrupted herself.

"Yeah, mate. I'm sure you are much more better looking than him." Ron joked.

 **Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

At this, Snape winced mentally. He had heard it before and it was _not_ pleasant.

" **Up! Get up! Now!"**

 **Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

" **Up!" she screeched.**

"What a wonderful way to start a day." Hannah from Hufflepuff commented sarcastically.

 **Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"That is a great memory, Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall said, looking slightly impressed. Harry blushed at the compliment.

 **His aunt was back outside the door.**

" **Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

" **Nearly," said Harry.**

" **Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon.**

"She. Made. You. Cook?" Hermione snarled, but she wasn't the only one. Mrs. Weasley, Professors and members of DA also looked enraged. Harry tried to scoot away from his friend but with no such luck. "Just when did she make you start cooking?"

"When I was six or seven? When I was old enough to handle the stove, I guess." Harry said, trying his best to sound casual. Unfortunately, it only made the others angrier.

 **And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

 **Harry groaned.**

" **What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

" **Nothing, nothing…"**

 **Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them,**

"You just had to mention them, did you?" Ron asked shuddering. But Harry didn't say anything.

 **Put them on. Harry was used to spiders,**

"How can you be used to them?" Ron yelled, shocked. Ginny also frowned.'

 **Because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them,**

"And what does the cupboard have to do with this?" Remus asked, narrowing his eyes. Harry was now glaring at the table gloomily, which worried the former DADA teacher more.

 **And that was where he slept.**

For a second, only silence was heard. People tried to process the new information with stunned expressions.

"WHAT?!"

Almost all the people screamed in rage, while others who still thought of Harry as a liar just gaped at Harry. Even Snape and Slytherins had a hard time controlling his expression. They had all thought he was a spoiled brat! Professor McGonagall whirled around to Dumbledore and started yelling at him.

"I TOLD YOU I TOLD you those muggles were the worst kind! But no you didn't listen and said it was SAFE for him! Now what did they do? They ABUSED him!" she went on screaming at him, but the Headmaster was lucky that she only did that instead of hexing him. Though seeing how white her knuckles were from gripping her want too tight, bit looked as if she was barely managing to restrain herself.

Sirius ran for the door, only to be caught by his godson.

"Snuffles! Stop!" Harry desperately tried to pull away from the door. Remus also joined in, because he needed to distract himself from the wolf inside him. The wolf side of himself was howling to be let out and go after those muggles, which Remus actually wanted. After wrestling for a few minutes, Sirius finally let the teen drag him towards the bench. But he gave Harry the loo that plainly said, 'We are going to talk about this.' Harry sighed in relief and turned around, only to be facing his friends.

"Harry, why didn't you tell us?" Hermione asked softly, hurt that he didn't tell any of them about it and Harry flinched at her expression.

"It never came up." Harry murmured as reply, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Can we talk about this later, please?" his friends just stared at him and only when Umbridge 'coughed', Hermione started reading again.

 **When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

 **Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise**

Everyone snorted at his, breaking some of the tension.

\- **unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

Tension was back to full force again. Surprisingly, it was Neville who snarled in anger.

"That somebody better not be you." Harry blink in surprise. Normally, he was very shy and hardly ever voiced his thoughts, but now Neville didn't even blush by the stares his was getting.

 **Dudley's favourite punching bag was Harry,**

People who cared about Harry growled at this.

Madam Pomfrey was silently berating herself. He had visited the hospital wing numerous times, and she didn't even notice the signs of abuse! She vowed to herself to do a proper health check of the boy as soon as the book is finished.

 **But he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"Of course he is! He's the youngest seeker in a century!" Oliver Wood boasted, clapping Harry's back and tension lessened. Immediately, the twins started complimenting how perfect and awesome Harry was and for once, none of the professors, except Umbridge, tried to stop them. In the end Gryffindor Quidditch team quietened down, leaving very read faced Harry alone.

 **Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had been small and skinny for his age.**

"Actually, your father was also small at that age. But he grew tall later." Professor McGonagall said, and many adults nodded their heads in agreement.

 **He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.**

"Did they ever buy you anything?" Colin Creevey asked upset at how his hero was treated. Harry shrugged in reply.

"They did buy me some things in rare occasions. But only when they had to." At this, Remus and Sirius exchanged glances and mentally noted to spoil Harry just a bit on his birthday.

 **Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.**

"James, James, James and Lily." Everyone who knew Harry's parents chorused.

 **He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his for that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

"You actually liked it?" Ron asked raising his eyebrow at Harry. He knew how much his best friend hated it and to think that he had liked it, it was unimaginable.

"I didn't know how I got it and besides, it did look pretty cool to an eleven years old."

 **He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he gotten it.**

" **In the car crash when your parents died,"**

"She lied about that?" Professor McGonagall looked even more furious. Even Professor Sprout, who was usually a cheerful witch, gripped her wand tightly and started muttering about some of the spells she could use on the Dursleys.

 **She had said. "And don't ask questions."**

"How can you learn if you don't ask questions?" A Ravenclaw asked, frowning at the thought. Harry looked at him and answered as if it was obvious.

"They didn't want me to learn." All the Ravenclaws and Hermione were hating the Dursleys more and more.

 **Don't ask question – that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

 **Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

" **Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

"And we are going to do that from now on." Fred stated, grinning at Harry.

"Every morning –"

"Whenever we meet –"

"Wherever it is." The twins ruffled Harry's hair, ignoring the protesting teen. But he was be able to say something.

"Don't you dare!" Harry said while glaring at them, the twin backed back from his glare.

 **About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys int his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grey that way – all over the place.**

"James's hair. There's just no way to tame it. There was even a bet about it and it didn't even become neat when someone dumped a whole bottle of gel on his hair." Remus said, and Sirius barked that suspiciously sounded like laughter.

 **Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.**

"Ew. I don't even know how he's related to Harry. He's just the exact opposite!" Lavender ex claimed, wrinkling her nose at the description.

 **Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel – Harry often said that Dudley looked like pig in a wig.**

Everyone roared in laughter at this. George gasped out, clutching his side that started to hurt from laughing.

"Where's that humour gone?" while George laughed.

"Oh, you know. Saving the world." Harry replied, also smiling cheekily.

 **Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

" **Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"Thirty-six? I don't even get that much." People turned to face Draco, who crossed his arms.

"What? It's not like I need that much unlike that muggle." People turned back to Hermione and the book. Now that was more like Draco Malfoy.

" **Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**

" **All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"Yeah, you don't want to waste your food." Ron nodded with a serious expression.

 **Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"**

"Of course. Your son is so spoiled and encourage him. Sure, why not?" Mrs. Weasley muttered under her breath.

 **Dudley thought for a moment. Iy looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…"**

"Thirty-nine! Ugh, he doesn't even know addition?" Hermione and the Ravenclaws exclaimed.

"I don't think he know how to do it now either." Harry commented casually.

" **Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

" **Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

 **Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

 **At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.**

 **He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

" **Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"'He' has a name you know." Ginny told the book, and Harry smiled at her amusedly.

 **Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap.**

"Are you okay? Hearts shouldn't do that." Luna asked, concerned.

"Yes, I am fine, Luna." Harry replied

 **Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away.**

"Harry, don't be mean." Hermione chided Harry playfully. He grinned in return.

"Sorry, Mione. But I'm telling you, that place isn't pleasant!"

 **Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"Mr. Potter, what don't you like cats?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"I don't like her cats, but furthermore I like cats. Tabby cats are my favourite." Harry said and teased the last bit.

" **Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

" **We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

"Is that the person, you blew up." Ron whispered to Harry.

"Yes, she is." Harry replied quietly. But so quietly that nobody could listen, they had it wrong because Remus heard because of his sensible ears.

"WHAT! You blew up your aunt!" Remus yelled.

"It was an accident, it was nothing." Harry said, trying to calm him down.

 **Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"He's right there." Neville grumbled under his breath.

 **The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

" **What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?"**

" **On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

" **You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

 **Aunt Petunia looked a though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

"She always looked like that." Harry said happily.

" **I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"No you would blow up your Aunt instead of the house." the twins said in unison an started to laugh.

" **I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car …"**

"You cannot treat him as a dog." Yelled Susan Bones.

" **That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…"**

"Of course, the car is much more important than Harry. I feel so stupid that I haven't known that before." Seamus said sarcastic.

 **Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying – it had been years since he'd really cried – but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"Spoiled brat." was muttered from everyone.

" **Dinky Duddydums,**

Everyone roared in laughter at the nickname.

 **Don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

" **I… don't… want… him… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

"Harry doesn't spoil actually." Fred commented, and George nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, he just makes it more 'interesting'." He said emphasizing 'interesting'. Harry rolled his eyes at them, but couldn't help but smile.

 **Just then, the doorbell rang – "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

The Golden Trio, Sirius and Remus scowled at the mention of the rat.

 **He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"If they are true friends, it's okay to cry in front of them." Harry commented, smiling at his friends.

 **Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

 **His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

" **I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warming you now, boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"Does he mean that?" Remus asked with dangerously calm voice and his eyes glinted like wolf's.

"No, it's just an empty threat." answered Harry. But this didn't reassure Remus at all because of how he answered so quickly and didn't meet his eyes.

" **I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"**

 **But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

"Correction. No one ever did _before._ " Harry amended, and his friends smiled, satisfied.

 **The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

"Stranger than what happened in your previous school year?" Ron raised his eyebrow at him, and Harry shook his head.

"They are much more normal than those."

 **Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar."**

 **Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"They punished you for accidental magic? But your knows about magic!" Cho exclaimed, then blushed when she caught Harry's gaze.

"The point of the punishment was to stop me from using magic. So it didn't matter if my aunt knew it was an accidental magic." The students looked truly sick at this. Moody and Tonks were in deep thought.

"Harry, maybe we invest this because it is a possibility that you are a metamorphmagus. It is really difficult for a normal wizard to let them grow back their hair in one night." Tonks said happy.

"Oh really yeah. Awesome." Harry replied in his most happiest voice.

 **Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls)**

"Ew." Some of the female students wrinkled their nose at the description.

– **the harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

 **On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual**

"Chasing you as usual?" Neville snarled. Harry had been very nice to him, and he really didn't like his home life.

 **When, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

"Awesome! You flew!" Dennis shouted excitedly.

"No. He might have apparated." His brother, Colin, shook his head.

Harry considered it and said out loud.

"I think I flew actually." This reminded Snape of how Lily used to fly out of the swing when she was young. It was too painful to bear, so he shoved the thought out of his mind.

 **The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

"'Wind caught you in mid-jump?' You need to learn how to lie better." George shook his head in mock disappointment, "I expected better of you. I am very disappointed of you and you will do better next time. Do I make myself clear?" Harry just rolled his eyes at him.

 **But today, nothing was going to go wrong.**

All his friends and some of the professors started to laugh.

"Harry, there is always something going wrong when you are involved." Choked Ron out while he laughed.

 **It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

 **While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favourite subject.**

"I knew it, he loves me so much that he only can complain." Harry said happily, all the -Weasley's and his friends, who knew how much he hated the Dursleys, laughed.

"You are completely right, they love extremely much." Fred and George said in unison.

 **This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"… **roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

" **I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

Everyone groaned, causing Harry to blush.

"What? I was eleven!" Harry complained.

 **Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

 **Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

" **I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

 **But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"Harry, my friend. Care to tell us where we can find this cartoon?" the twins asked sweetly.

"You know, it is about how certain animals live in certain places. Like how the bears survive." Harry said nonchalant. Hermione looked at Harry and they started to laugh.

 **It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.**

"It's actually quite delicious." Some muggle-borns commented.

 **It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

A lot of people laughed.

 **Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him.**

Growls were heard in the Hall.

 **They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one nd Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

 **Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

"Of course. You are bloody Harry Potter, after all. Nothing will stay nice and quiet." Ron stated in a matter of fact tone.

"It can't be that bad. Did you set an animal free or something?" A first year asked. Harry only smiled mysteriously.

 **After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly fond the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can – but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

 **Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass,**

"Like a pig." Someone commented causing people to snicker.

 **Staring at the glistening brown coils.**

" **Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

" **Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

" **This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

 **Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

"You do realize you are comparing yourself to a snake?" Ginny asked, tilting her head.

"I was lonely, I guess and I didn't have anything else to do, anyways." Harry replied.

 **The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

 **It winked.**

"Snakes can't wink! They don't have eyelids!" Hermione and the Ravenclaws shouted, frustrated.

"Maybe it has to do with Harry being a parselmouth?" Ron said, thoughtfully.

 **Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

 **The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**

" **I get that all the time."**

" **I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

"You are talking to a snake about your uncle, and you didn't even think it was weird?" Seamus dead panned with more sarcasm than necessary.

"Like the book said, I was used to odd things happening around me." Harry replied while he sighed.

 **The snake nodded vigorously.**

" **Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

 **The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

 _ **Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**_

" **Was it nice there?"**

 **The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on:**

 _ **This specimen was bred in the zoo.**_

" **Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"You are talking to a snake. About Brazil. How's that even possible?" Katie exclaimed, and as on cue.

"Nothing is impossible when are the Harry Potter!" The twins chorused. Harry just glared at them, but the effect was ruined with the corner of his lips quirked upwards.

 **As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump.**

" **DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

 **Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

" **Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.**

People who liked or knew Harry snarled in anger.

 **Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened – one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

"What? What did you do? Did you make something explode? Did they get hurt?" Fred asked eagerly, and it was clear that he wanted them to get hurt. To their great sadness, Harry shook his head.

"No but I did give them a panic attack, though." Harry replied.

 **Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

"That is a quite powerful accidental magic, Mr. Potter." Professor Flitwick said, admiringly. Harry ducked his head at the compliment, and his friends smiled at him.

 **The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

 **As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."**

"I wonder if it did reach Brazil. I hope it did." Harry mused out loud, easily ignoring the odd looks he was receiving.

 **The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

" **But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

 **The zoo director himself mad Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.**

"That would have been much better." Fred said, wistfully, and George patted his back sympathetically.

"I know, I know. But you can't have everything the way you want it to be. You can, however, try to make them." George added with a meaningful look.

 **But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

"Oh, shut up, you little rat." Ginny hissed with pure anger.

 **Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go – cupboard – stay – no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"No meals?" Mrs. Weasley and many other people shrieked. Madam Pomfrey was fingering her wand with deadly calmness, and when Harry glanced at her, he turned pale. He was definitely locked up in the Hospital Wing.

 **Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"So you do have some possibility of being a prankster. Great!" The twins grinned, and all of the professors became horrified. They silently vowed to themselves to their best to stop James Potter's son of becoming a prankster.

 **He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

Deathly silence hung heavily in the Hall. Even people who didn't like Harry looked ill at the thought of a child remembering that.

"I remember it more clearly now because of the dementors." Harry informed them.

 **This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"I could show you some of mine, if you want Mr. Potter. I could even let you view my memories." Professor McGonagall said, dabbing the edge of her eyes. Harry immediately brightened up at this and thanked her over and over.

 **When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened;**

"Sorry, Harry." Remus apologized, and if Sirius was able to talk, he would have also said sorry. Harry just waved their apology off, saying it was not their fault.

 **The Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus.**

"I think that she is McGonagall." Harry whispered to Ron.

 **A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word.**

"Kingsley." Harry murmured.

 **The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"They apparated away, Harry." Hermione said to Harry.

 **At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody like to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"What is wrong with Harry?! He is amazing." The twins and his other friend said together.

"Thanks," Harry murmured to them. When he looked back at the head table, he saw that madam Pomfrey walked towards him. She looked angry and worried, he walked slowly to her, he didn't noticed that Snuffles and Remus walked a couple of metres behind him.

When Harry was a couple of metres away from Madam Pomfrey, all around him was quiet. "Madam Pomfrey I know that you want me to the Hospital Wing but I think it would be better to listen to the rest of the books. I don't think you know all my injures and the books tell more about the injures during my adventures and what happened at my 'so-called-family'." Harry said quietly.

"Fine. If you say so Mr. Potter but when the books are finished you will be at least a few days in the Hospital Wing." She said concerned and angrily. Harry gulped.

"Okay, Madam Pomfrey." Harry replied. They walked back to their seat, they said nothing to others.

"Who wants to read?" Hermione asked to everybody.

"I want to read the next chapter because it is the biggest chance that it is about his Hogwarts letter." Remus said, Hermione gave the book to him.

 **Hello guys, I have question**


	3. Letters from no one

**Hello guys there is finally? the next chapter is here. I hope that you like it. Here is chapter 3.**

Last chapter:

 _"Who wants to read?" Hermione asked to everybody._

 _"I want to read the next chapter because it is the biggest chance that it is about his Hogwarts letter." Remus said, Hermione gave the book to him._

 _ **CHAPTER 3 LETTERS FROM NO ONE**_

Chapter 3 letters from no one

 **CHAPTER 3 LETTERS FROM NO ONE**

"Are these your Hogwarts letters?" Neville asked.

"Yes, they are." Harry said.

 **The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started.**

"Harry? When is your cousin's birthday?" Hermione asked calmly with a dangerous edge on it, and Harry eyed her carefully while he answered.

"Uhm, it's on June?" He replied.

 **and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

"Poor woman." Padma said, her voice full of concern.

 **Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.**

"'Harry Hunting'?" Ginny, Hermione and many others shrieked in disbelief.

"Hermione? Didn't you say shouting out some things won't change anything?" Harry reminded his friend, but she scoffed as if she couldn't believe she said that.

 **This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school.**

"Sorry to destroy your hope, Harry, but you are not going to that school anymore." Ron commented, nudging his best mate.

 **Dudley thought this was very funny.**

 **"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

 **"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

"I don't think you needed to run. He probably couldn't figure it out." Remus said, grinning at the raven haired boy. Harry grinned back.

"I don't think he figured it out even now." He smiled back.

 **One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

"You are wasting very good chocolate, this is unbelievable." Remus said sadly as it was shame while he looked horrified at the thought of leaving a chocolate like that. Harry turned red from not laughing at his honorary uncle's face, he coughed that suspiciously sounded like, 'addicted to chocolate', and former DADA narrowed his eyes. Snuffles barked that sounded like laughing.

"I heard that, Harry Potter." He didn't seemed to be effected by innocent look that the messy-haired teen gave him.

 **That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters.**

 **They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.**

"Seriously? How's that supposed to be good?" A Ravenclaw asked, scrunching her face in thought. To her, there was just no way hitting each other was a 'good training', and it frustrated her that those muggles knew how while she didn't.

"Honestly, I have no idea." Harry answered, and she finally decided it _wasn't_ a good training.

 **As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up.**

Half of the students were rolling on the ground in laughter at the mental image. The Weasley twins even had tears in their eyes and their faces were red. They gasped out, "Pig. In. Knickerbockers!", which caused another burst of laughter from the mental image.

 **Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

"I also think I broke mine." George wheezed, finally calming down.

 **There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.**

 **"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

"Nothing's wrong with asking questions." Many Ravenclaws huffed indignantly, and Professor McGonagall peered at Harry.

"Is that why you don't ask for help, Mr. Potter?" He didn't reply and avoided her gaze.

 **"Your new school uniform," she said.**

 **Harry looked in the bowl again.**

 **"Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

"Sarcasm won't work on her." Snape murmured, but it was too quiet for anyone to hear.

"Where is your humour gone?" The twins asked.

"You saving the world nearly every year." Harry said nonchalantly.

 **"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

 **Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High - like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

"Good thing you didn't wear that to Hogwarts." Tonks said teasingly. Harry just swatted at her playfully.

 **Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

 **They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.**

 **"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

"He actually made the pig do that?" Fred asked in bewilderment, firmly refusing to call Dudley anything else than 'pig'. George nodded, while he patted his twin's arm.

"It certainly seem like it, my devilishly handsome brother. But I'm not sure how long it will last."

 **"Make Harry get it."**

 **"Get the mail, Harry."**

"He remembers your name!"

"Only because Dudley said my name."

 **"Make Dudley get it."**

 **"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."**

"Don't you dare." Many people growled.

 **Harry dodged the Smelting stick**

"Seeker reflex." Gryffindor Quidditch team chorused, while Oliver shouted, "That's my seeker!".

 **and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and - a letter for Harry.**

 **Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would?**

"The entire Wizarding World would love to write tons of letters to you." Neville teased the teen, while he groaned at the reminder of his fame.

 **He had no friends, no other relatives - he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

 ** _Mr. H. Potter_**

 ** _The Cupboard under the Stairs_**

 ** _4 Privet Drive_**

 ** _Little Whinging_**

 ** _Surrey_**

"How did you not notice it?" Many people asked ridiculously, and Professor McGonagall looked slightly embarrassed.

"The letters are written by an enchanted quill. I will look through it from now on."

 **The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.**

 **Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion,**

"Gryffindor!" All the Gryffindor's cheered.

 **an eagle,**

"Ravenclaw!" All the Ravenclaws cheered.

 **a badger,**

"Hufflepuff!" Nearly all the Hufflepuffs cheered.

 **and a snake**

Slytherins merely clapped in response, ignoring the looks they were receiving from other houses.

 **surrounding a large letter H.**

"Hogwarts!" Students cheered, drowning Umbridge's screeches to quieten down.

 **"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

"That was a joke?" The Weasley twin and the two mauraders genuinely looked offended at that.

 **Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

"You should have opened it immediately or later when no one was looking! Honestly, Harry, do you have any common sense?" Ginny was answered by Hermione.

"Well, obviously Ginny, considering how he dives head first into dangerous situations, I think we can safely assume that he doesn't have common sense." They hid their giggles behind their cups at Harry's annoyed, "Hey!". They smiled sweetly at him, which caused him to send them annoyed glare.

 **Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.**

 **"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk-."**

 **"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

"Oh, shut your fat mouth!"

"Language, Ms. Weasley!"

 **Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

 **"That's mine!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

 **"Who'd be writing to you?"**

"Well, let's see. Entire Wizarding World, hundreds of fan girls and handful of death eaters who would likely curse the letter before sending it. Did I forget anyone?"

"My brother dearest, I believe you've forgot our young sister here. If my memory is correct, she sent millions of letters only in one month." The twins yelped as a curse casted by a certain red haired fourth year zoomed past them. It only missed them by inches.

"You were saying?" Ginny asked in her sweetest voice, and her older brothers gulped audibly.

"But, of course, as we were going to say, she got over her crush, didn't she? She isn't one of those fan girl who blindly worships the Boy-Who-Lived." Fred quickly said as fast as Hermione when she answers a question and George nodded his head wildly. Harry was laughing so hard that he forgot his desire to bang his head on table at the mention of his fame.

 **sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.**

"I never knew a muggle could turn into that colour." Tonks commented, turning her face from red to green, then grayish white of old porridge using her metamorphic ability. Harry grinned at the young auror.

"He's the only one who can change his face into that color. Actually, he turned into an interesting shade of purple once."

 **"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

 **Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

 **"Vernon! Oh my goodness - Vernon!"**

"Still a drama queen." Snape muttered.

 **They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

"Disrespectful brat."

 **"I want to read that letter," he said loudly. "I want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's mine."**

"Temper, temper." The twins chided Harry who scowled at them. Many people looked curious about the comment, and they were more than happy to share their experience.

"This summer, he was pissed. And when he started yelling, I swear the whole house was shaking." Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Remus, Mr., Mrs. Weasley and Snuffles nodded in agreement. Many people looked shocked that usually quiet and shy Gryffindor had such temper.

"I was few floors up when that happened, but I could hear his words really clearly." Ginny said, and Harry frowned at them.

"My temper isn't that bad." This caused them to stare at him disbelievingly.

 **"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

 **Harry didn't move.**

 **"I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"Ladies and gentlemen, that's the famous Potter temper!" The twins chorused, successfully teasing their honorary little brother. Remus grinned down at the teen.

"Actually, that's Lily's temper. I remember once she blasted James across the common room when he first asked for a date. I can't even guess how they got together. They fought like cat and dog when they saw each other."

Harry and Ginny exchanged looks. It sounded so much like Ron and Hermione.

 **"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.**

 **"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.**

"That's the better place anyways." The pranksters told him knowingly and Snuffles nodded.. Thankfully, no one else noticed but Harry smacked his head, easily ignoring a whine.

 **"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address - how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

 **"Watching - spying - might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"We have more important things than that, Muggle." Draco sneered, and looked taken aback at the number of people who agreed with him.

 **"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want -"**

 **Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

 **"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best... we won't do anything..."**

"It won't work." The staff and Harry said with knowing smirk on their face. Neville stared at each of them with wide eyes, and finally asked. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, Harry, tell us!" Ron urged him, but the raven haired teen shook his head. "You'll find out soon" was all he said.

"I suspect they had a bad reaction when they saw what was inside the egg." Luna stated dreamily, and some Ravenclaws snickered at the odd blonde girl. Harry, on the other hand, had to work hard to hide his surprise. How did she found out there were some letters hidden in eggs?

 **"But -"**

 **"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

"Harry? Did they ever beat you?" Remus asked, visibly trembling from rage. Harry automatically answered 'No', but the werewolf was seriously considering visiting the Privet Drive on full moon.

 **That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

 **"Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door.**

"He could get into the cupboard?" Katie asked, disbelief clearly heard in her voice. Harry shook his head.

"No, he only fit his head in. If he came in completely, I would have been squeezed to death."

 **"Who's writing to me?"**

 **"No one. it was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

"He burned it?" Cho asked, shock visible in her eyes. "Is that even legal?"

"No, Ms. Chang. The letter was Mr. Potter's, so he had no right to destroy it." Professor McGonagall answered her, her lips thinned in obvious displeasure.

 **"It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

 **"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

 **"Er - yes, Harry - about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking... you're really getting a bit big for it... we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."**

"They had another bedroom but kept you in a cupboard?!" Tonks shrieked, her hair turned into blood red in her anger. Harry looked slightly alarmed at her outburst and tried to calm her down.

"Whoa, Tonks! Calm down, will you? I don't need another overreacting friend!" Remus put his hand on her arm to calm her down, she calmed down and she blushed because of her crush put a hand on her.

 **"Why?" said Harry.**

 **"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

 **The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom.**

"They let their son to put his junks into a room so they had an excuse to put you into a cupboard?" Bill looked positively ill at the thought of treating his own family like that. Charlie also looked sick, determined to provide Harry a home where he was welcomed.

 **It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it.**

"He got a talent at breaking stuff, doesn't he?" Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw, commented. Harry agreed with him.

"If there's a competition of how well you break things, I'm sure Dudley will win."

 **Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

Hermione and whole Ravenclaw looked outraged at how the books were treated.

 **From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't want him in there... I need that room... make him get out..."**

 **Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

 **Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall.**

"I told you to open the letter in the hall, didn't I? Shame on you, Harry." Fred said, and Harry rolled his emerald eyes at him.

"Thank you for your helpful advice, but you are four years late."

 **Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

 **When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive -'"**

 **With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind.**

"So you practiced wrestling people bigger than you?" Hermione teased him, Ron grinning next to her. Neville stared at grinning trio and slowly asked. "Will you explain what you are talking about? No, ignore that. Do I want to know?"

"To answer your first question, no, we aren't going to tell you because it will ruin the book. For your second question, no, I don't think you want to know."

 **After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

 **"Go to your cupboard - I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley - go - just go."**

 **Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

Everyone who had heard or saw Harry's plans winced at this. When he looked at them blankly, Ron answered him carefully.

"Well, mate. You know, your plan doesn't really work. When you think on your feet, then it's brilliant,"

"And reckless." Hermione added. "but your plan always fail." Harry seemed to be annoyed with them for a moment, but quickly laughed amusedly.

"Hate to admit it, but I have to agree with you. My plan sucks."

 **The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

 **He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first.**

"Well, that is a nice plan." Hermione admitted. "But since it involves you, I bet something went wrong."

Harry pouted and muttered, 'it wasn't that bad, though'. Much to Fred and George's disappointment, he didn't explain what he meant by that, only stating that 'it will be revealed by the book'.

 **His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door -Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat - something alive!**

"Was it your uncle Harry?" Dennis asked eagerly, and Harry blinked at his enthusiasm.

 **Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face.**

People cheered at this.

 **Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

 **"I want -" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

"That's so mean. Destroying something that a child wants in front of him." Padma commented, and Harry mentally snorted in his mind. If he couldn't even endure that, then he wouldn't have been able to survive his relatives' choice of words about his parents.

 **Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

 **"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't deliver them they'll just give up."**

 **"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

 **"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me,"**

"And we are glad that we aren't like you." Several people answered the book.

 **said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

 **On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

Charlie whistled, grinning up at the High Table. "Someone's getting impatient." Harry chuckled lightly, and added. "And creative, too."

 **Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"Paranoid, isn't he?" Susan asked with a small smirk on his face. Hannah smiled at her friend.

"He blocked the doors so no one could go in or out, just because of some letters. I think it's safe to assume that he is paranoid. Although, personally I think Moody is much more worse than him. He probably shoot curses at anything that comes near to his house."

 **On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window.**

Everyone turned to Luna, who was inspecting a spoon as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"How did you know that?" Cho was the one to ask first, and the blonde turned her gaze away from the spoon. "Know what?"

"How did you know the letters were inside the eggs?" Cho repeated her question irritated, as if the blonde was making her waste her time. Luna flashed her unique dreamy smile and answered her. "People should watch what they are saying or doing. You never know when a barge is spying on you."

 **While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

 **"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"Don't you dare start." Harry warned the Weasley twins who were opening their mouths to list people. They went cross eyed by looking at the wand inches away from their face and wisely shut their mouths.

 **On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

 **"No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today -"**

"No letters on Sundays?" Many pure bloods asked, puzzled. Hermione lurched into explanation.

"Muggles don't get letters on Sundays because unlike wizards, they don't use owls for mails."

 **Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets.**

Students cheered, and Professor McGonagall looked rather pleased at the owls who put letters in the chimney.

 **The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one.**

"Why in the air? I'm sure there were plenty on the ground." Angelina asked, and Harry shrugged. "Practicing for the Quidditch, I guess."

"That's my seeker!" Oliver yelled, with the twins shouting, 'the youngest seeker in the century!' At the background.

 **"Out! OUT!"**

 **Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

"How many letters are you still going to get?" Ron asked Harry.

"I think at least around the hundred letters I still get." He answered.

 **When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

 **"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

 **He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

"Good. Now they are teaching something to their son." Mrs. Weasley nodded approvingly.

 **They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while. "Shake'em off... shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

"He's gone mad. Absolutely crazy." Ernie commented, shaking his head. Harry idly wondered how his uncle will react when he heard Ernie's comment.

 **They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"Welcome to Harry's world." Ginny told the book, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Stop talking to a book, Ginny. And people call _me_ crazy." Harry was awarded by a smack on his head.

 **Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering...**

"Wondering about what?" Colin asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Harry frowned in thought, and replied.

"I don't really remember but I think I was thinking whether those letters were going to send after me again, and if yes, how I was going to get it."

 **They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

 **"'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

"You are right, you are still getting hundreds of letters. How many letters are you now still getting?" Hermione commented.

"I get one last letter." Harry exclaimed happily.

 **She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

 ** _Mr. H. Potter_**

 ** _Room 17_**

 ** _Railview Hotel_**

 ** _Cokeworth_**

 **Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"She probably was shocked that he didn't give the letter to Harry." Hermione said, knowingly.

 **"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

 **"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

"What is he looking for?" Dean inquired, not having a faintest clue what the Muggle was doing. Harry answered him. "He was looking for somewhere to sleep without being disturbed by those letters."

"He was planning to sleep at those places?" Dean shook his head. "He have some mental issues. I mean, honestly, all that for just letters?"

 **"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"So he _can_ say something correct." Ron commented in mock amazement.

 **Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.**

 **It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled.**

 **"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television. "**

"Television. With owls dropping letters through his chimney and his dad acting weird, his concern is watching television." A muggleborn shook her head. "This family have problems. A _lot_ of problems."

 **Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday - and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television - then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun - last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry saw Weasley family and Remus exchanging a look. He had a sneaky suspicion they'll try to spoil him by throwing a huge party or buying him presents every day.

 **Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

 **Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

 **"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

 **It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Harry."

"Hey! I was eleven!"

 **"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together.**

"He's happy because of the storm?" Lavender frowned, then her face lighted up. "Oh, I know! He was thinking that the storm will prevent any owls from bringing them a letter."

"Why, aren't you smart?" Parvati drawled, rolling her eyes at her friend's proud expression. She needed to work on identifying sarcasm.

 **"And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

 **A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.**

 **"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

 **It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

 **The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

 **Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas.**

"But that isn't proper meal!" Mrs. Weasley protested, and Ron agreed. Harry snickered at his best mate.

"You only care about food?"

"Oh, shut up, Harry."

 **He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.**

 **"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

 **He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail.**

Harry and Hagrid glanced at each other and pretended to drink to hide their smirk behind their cups. Vernon Dursley's thought was going to be proven wrong.

 **Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

 **As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"Before you start questioning me, no I didn't catch a cold or got hurt or anything like that. I was just a bit chilly and uncomfortable, but that was it." Harry said, successfully stopping his friends from saying their concerns.

 **The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger.**

"A bit chilly and uncomfortable?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrow questioningly. Harry blushed, and sheepishly added. "And hungry too. A lot."

 **Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

"I was in my bed, wondering why you weren't answering any of those letters." Head of the Gryffindor told Harry.

 **Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.** **Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

 **Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

Harry had to bite the inside of his cheek to restrain him from bursting into laughter. The good part where Dudley had a special surprise was coming. He could tell Hagrid was also having that thought too, but because of his beard, his smile wasn't that visible.

 **One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... twenty ... ten... nine - maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him**

"Do it! Do it!" The Weasley twins sang with Sirius barking along with them. Angelina and Katie smacked Fred and George on head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"We are at the middle of reading right now, and we would really appreciate it if you shut up." The girls said calmly, and the boys huffed, but didn't say anything.

 **\- three... two... one...**

 **BOOM.**

Half of the students jumped as Remus yelled out that part. Harry rubbed his ears, complained "You know I am right next to you so you don't have to yell that part out nearly in my ear." Remus just waved him off

"Who wants to read right now?" Remus asked in general because there are too many people in the Great Hall to ask a group of people. Some people put their hands in the air including Hagrid.

"I think that it would be fun if Hagrid is going to read this chapter. I just know it." Harry stated with a grin. Remus nodded with agreement, he levitated the book to Hagrid. Hagrid started to read.

 **CHAPTER 4 THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS**

Somewhere in the next coming two weeks I will be going on holiday to France! Yeah I really want to go to Great Britain = England. England is better land to go on holiday than France because I can speak a lot better English than French. I will probably update at least one time when I am on holiday, maybe I will even update before I am gone. I will be three weeks on holiday, we won't be doing much so I got a lot of time to spend writing.

You can always PM me or review, I always like the reviews because they make me happier. You comment who you like to speak/ comment more on the book.


	4. The keeper of the keys

**Here is chapter 4 all about someone. I hope you like it, you can always PM or review to comment about the fanfiction or the chapter.**

Last chapter:

" _Who wants to read right now?" Remus asked in general because there are too many people in the Great Hall to ask a group of people. Some people put their hands in the air including Hagrid._

" _I think that it would be fun if Hagrid is going to read this chapter. I just know it." Harry stated with a grin. Remus nodded with agreement, he levitated the book to Hagrid. Hagrid started to read._

 _ **CHAPTER 4 THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS**_

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4 THE** **KEEPER OF THE KEYS**

"Hagrid!" all the friends of Hagrid yell out

 **BOOM.**

Few first years screamed in their surprise when Hagrid said that part out loud.

 **They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

 **There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands - now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

"He had a rifle?!" Hermione and other muggleborns shouted, alarmed. Pure bloods frowned, not understanding what was a 'rifle', let alone why it was wrong with having it. Ron voiced their questions aloud.

"What's a rifle?"

"It's a muggle's tool that causes huge pain when it hits you if it didn't kill you. It's kind of like a slicing curse." Hermione said.

 **"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you - I'm armed!"**

 **There was a pause. Then -**

 **SMASH!**

All students stared at Hagrid eagerly. They could feel that something good will happen soon. Besides, from how Harry had a smile on his face, it was obvious that he wasn't in danger, so they didn't worry about his safety.

 **The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

"You know, I'm starting to think that you are going to be attacked." Neville commented, looking at the teen. Harry's smile grew wider.

"You don't have to worry about really. He was really strong and looked intimidating, but he didn't harm me." He bit back a snicker when Neville's expression clearly showed that he didn't believe him. Luna hummed, looking at the ceiling.

"He is actually nice. Especially to animals." People looked at the blonde oddly, but she was either oblivious to the stare or was ignoring them. Harry grinned, amused. It seemed that Luna knew everything.

 **A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"Oh, I see what you mean." Neville said, slumping to his seat in relief. Other people also relaxed, but there were still few people who still didn't know what was going on. It was rather funny to see them glancing around, trying to figure out what they were missing.

 **The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

 **"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."**

"Only Hagrid will break the door and ask for a tea." Hermione said, beaming up at the giant. Fred leaned in to Harry.

"So, tell me ickle Harrykins, did that action annoy your relatives?"

"It did scare them." Harry admitted, then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "And do tell me, why are you interested in this?"

"Its none of your business." George said in fake haughty voice. Harry stuck his tongue out, causing Ginny to roll her eyes. "Very mature, Harry."

 **He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

 **"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

"Go Hagrid!" Ron cheered, and the half giant smiled fondly at him.

 **Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

 **"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

 **Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

 **"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yet dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."**

"People always say that." Harry murmured, smiling slightly at the mention of his parents.

 **Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

The Weasley twins also tried to make the sound, but failed.

"How does he do that?" Fred exclaimed, frustrated that he couldn't do it.

"It seems that he has a great talent on making strange noises. But fear not, my devilishly handsome twin brother. It is the only thing that he is good at, unlike us who have many awesome talents!"

"Would you two shut up on your own, or should do it for you?" Katie asked, successfully cutting their rambling. She lazily aimed her wand at them and she had to admit, she was secretly enjoying their fear since she did lose some galleons because of them. She saw Angelina winking at her and smiled at her friend.

 **"I demand that you leave at once, sit!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

 **"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

Ron cheered again, and this time was joined by more people.

 **Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

The twins had an identical thoughtful look on his face, and Hermione hissed at them.

 **"Anyway - Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

"You sure about that?" Ron sent Harry a skeptical look. His attempts with Hagrid's foods usually ended up with his teeth almost breaking or his mouth full of sticky substance that he couldn't even open his mouth. Harry shrugged.

"It was good, actually."

Hagrid furrowed his eyebrows in confusion from the Head Table. What was wrong with his foods?

 **From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.**

"That was nice of him." Lavender commented.

 **Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

"That wasn't nice of you, Harry." Luna chided him lightly, and Harry blinked. Normally, it was Hermione or Ginny who said things like that. But he smiled sheepishly at her.

"Alright, then. I promise it won't happen again."

 **The giant chuckled.**

 **"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

 **He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

People who knew his strength winced and rubbed their arms. Hagrid forgot how strong he could be and most of the time, he didn't consider it.

 **"What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

 **His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

 **The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.**

A seventh year Gryffindor whistled. "He has a lot of pockets on his coat, does he?"

"You just noticed it?" His friend dead panned, but was ignored.

"It might be useful to keep things. Hmm, maybe I should do that, too." His friend merely stared at him in disbelief.

 **Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

Susan scoffed. "Like he needs any more food. He can probably last for years without food because of the fat he has." Everyone were taken aback by how harsh a usually cheerful Hufflepuff sounded. However, they nodded in agreement after getting over their surprise except Harry.

 **The giant chuckled darkly.**

 **"Yet great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

"See? Even Hagrid agrees with me." Susan said triumphantly.

 **He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

"He just broke the door and looks intimidating and strong, but all you ask is 'who are you?'. Really, Harry? No 'what are you doing here' or 'please don't hurt me'?" Dean asked disbelievingly, but Harry only shrugged. "It seemed reasonable to me at that time to ask his name. I mean, he didn't act like he was going to hurt anyone."

"You need some healthy amount of fear. Honestly, Harry, don't you have any surviving instinct? When a stranger comes into your house - by _breaking_ the door, mind you - it's always good to be on your guard and be suspicious. You'll get yourself killed one day if you keep acting like that." Dean continued to lecture, and Harry saw that many people, including his friends, were nodding in agreement. He scowled.

"I _do_ have my surviving instinct and I _do_ get suspicious of strangers."

"Sure, Harry, whatever you say." Dean agreed carelessly, rolling his eyes at Ginny. She giggled, annoying Harry even more.

 **The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

 **"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."**

 **"Er - no," said Harry.**

"Hagrid won't like that." Ron commented, his glee visible in his eyes. Harry smirked at his best mate's expression. "Won't liking it will be understatement."

 **Hagrid looked shocked.**

 **"Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"There's nothing you need to be sorry about." Remus said, exasperated that Harry apologized even if it wasn't his fault. Taking all the blame couldn't be good for his health. Maybe he could persuade (drag) him to the Hospital Wing for check up? He made a mental note about it.

 **"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never** **thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yet parents learned it all?"**

 **"All what?" asked Harry.**

"Oh, this is gonna be good!" The Weasley twins exclaimed with identical cheshire grin plastered on their face.

 **"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"**

"Hagrid's mad! No one knows what he'll do when he loses his temper." The twins started clapping their hands like five years olds about to get a birthday present. Harry rolled his eyes. Sometimes, Five years olds were much more mature than them.

 **He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

 **"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy - this boy! - knows nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"**

"Now, that was rude. Harry will probably think that Hagrid think he's an idiot or something." Hermione frowned, then started giggling when she noticed Harry's red face. "You did think he thought you were an idiot, didn't you?"

"What? I was eleven! And I had no idea that magic existed, let alone I was a wizard." Harry said defensively, trying desperately to stop his face from blushing even more. His friends started laughing at his embarrassment. Harry groaned and banged his head on the table, giving up defending himself. It was clear that no one was going to help him and others seemed to be determined to tease him mercilessly.

 **Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

Laughter increased, and if it was possible, Harry blushed even harder.

 **"I know some things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."**

"Yes, Harry's not stupid." Fred nodded solemnly, his twin brother agreeing next to him. "He can do math and stuff, so you shouldn't underestimate him."

"Oh, shut up." Harry mumbled, shoving the twins angrily, his face still flushed.

 **But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."**

 **"What world?"**

 **Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

 **"DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

"Go, Hagrid!" Ron yelled, followed by the Weasley siblings' and other's whoops and cheers.

 **Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble."**

"'Mimblewimble'? That's pathetic." Bill scoffed, his Gryffindor side showing. "What a man he is."

 **Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.**

 **"But yeh must know about yet mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."**

 **"What? My - my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"Unfortunately, they are." Harry mumbled, his good mood vanishing instantly. Other stayed silent, not knowing how to comfort the teen.

 **"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

 **"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.**

 **Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

 **"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

"He has guts. I know I would have kept silent if I was him." Charlie commented, shaking his head at the man's foolishness. "He's really hopeless. It's a wonder how Harry's aunt fell in love with him. I mean, honestly, what was she thinking?"

 **A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

 **"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

 **"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

"Why were you eager?" Ginny asked casually, using the question as an excuse to look at him. Harry thought for a minute, then shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I think I was hoping for some kind of excuse to get away from the Dursleys. But as I said, I'm not sure. It had been years since that happened, and a lot of things took place, you know."

 **"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

 **Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

"Dramatic, aren't they?" Lavender asked, rolling her eyes at their behaviors. Parvati shook her head beside her. "Lavender, you of all people can't call them dramatic. I swear, if you had a paper cut, you could make it sound like you got stabbed by a sword or something."

"But paper cut hurts!" Lavender complained, causing her friend to sigh exasperatedly once more.

 **"Ah, go boil yet heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry - yet a wizard."**

 **There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

 **"- a what?" gasped Harry.**

"Nice reaction, Potter." Draco sneered, but not with as much as hatred as before. He had gained some respect for that raven haired teen for the past few hours or so. He wasan't sure if _he_ could survive years with those horrid muggles. Ugh, that book was seriously messing up with his mind. As if Potter needed more worshippers to boost up his ego.

 **"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

"Finally! I thought you'd never get that letter. Honestly, Harry, how can you make reading just one letter so difficult?" Neville asked, almost feeling sorry for Harry. "It's worse than me with potions."

"I know, Neville. I've been trying really hard to find out what was wrong with me for past few years. If I do figure it out, you'll be the first one to know." Harry promised with mock solemnity.

"You better keep that promise, Harry."

 **Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:**

 _ **HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

 _ **Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**_

 _ **(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

 _ **Dear Mr. Potter,**_

 _ **We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**_

 _ **Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. Yours sincerely,**_

 _ **Minerva McGonagall,**_

 _ **Deputy Headmistress**_

 **Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first.**

Luna frowned at the emerald eyed teen in concern. "Are you okay, Harry? Fireworks don't explode in people's head." People started snickering at Harry's bewildered and lost expression. Draco scoffed at his earlier thought. Of course Potter didn't have any self control. It must have been his eyes having some problems before. The Slytherin firmly did not remind himself that his eyesights were perfect.

 **After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

Everyone groaned, causing Harry to blush.

"After you've just learned you were a wizard, out of all things, you ask about that?" Dean lectured again. "You have some mental issues, Harry. When you learn something impossible like that, you either scoff at the ridiculousness or cheer in happiness. Sensible people go with the former, but people who often follow their emotions - which includes me, by the way - go with the latter."

"I was eleven! And besides, how was I supposed to know when the reply was due?" Harry protested, desperately trying to defend himself. Fred and George laughed at his futile effort, and slung their arms around his back.

"My, my, Forge. It looks like our ickle Harrykins got stuck!" One exclaimed, ruffling the teen's black hair. Harry squawked in protest, but as usual, it went ignored.

"Yes, my brother dearest, it looks like he is. And I think we should remind him something." Another replied, also ruffling Harry's hair. He asked carefully, not even bothering to protest when his already messy hair got even more messier. "What do you need to remind me about?"

"That you can't use 'I-was-eleven-excuse, of course." They chorused, looking at the younger teen as if it should be obvious. "I mean, you used that excuse like dozens of times now, and a good prankster don't use the same excuse more than few times. It gets really suspicious, you know."

"But this isn't about pranking!" Harry shouted, frustrated. The twins, however, weren't affected by his mood and just grinned their trademark mischievous grins.

"Ah, yes. But you see, Harry, for some reason we are quite determined to turn you into a prankster." Fred - or was it George? - said, making his eyes as innocent as possible.

"So from now on, we are gonna train you up, and whatever you do, we'll make sure you are doing it by prankster's standers."

"Fine, fine. I won't use that excuse anymore and make up some other excuses." Harry muttered in defeated voice when it was clear they weren't going to give up easily. The pranksters grinned at the teen, ignoring the professors who wore horrified expressions at hearing the Weasley twins were going to turn James' son into prankster. How was Hogwarts going to survive?

"We'll make a prankster out of you, yet." They chorused, flashing Harry a fond smile that was often used by parents. Harry couldn't help but laugh at their antics. It sounded like a great idea to learn how to prank people. It would certainly help him relieve some stresses and he could become more similar to his dad! He idly wondered what the twin's reactions were going to be when they found out that he was the Prongs' son.

 **"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl**

"You had an owl in your _pocket_?" Hermione shouted, whirling around to face Hagrid, her face full of horror. Hagrid quickly assured her. "Don' worry, Hermione. It was an owl who liked to live in a dark damp area. Yeh know I won' do anything like that to those poor creatures."

"Yeah, Hermione, have some faith will you?" Harry smirked. "You should know better than to believe that Hagrid will do anyting like that." Hermione blushed so brighty that could put Weasleys to shame. "Sorry, Hagrid." The half-giant merely waved off her embarrassed apology.

 **\- a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:**

"That's impressive. I can hardly read it the right way." Ron commented, surprised.

 _ **Dear Professor Dumbledore,**_

 _ **Given Harry his letter.**_

 _ **Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.**_

 _ **Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**_

 _ **Hagrid**_

 **Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.**

"It is as normal as using elepone." Ron said, not even noticing his incorrect pronunciation.

"It's 'telephone', Ron." Hermione corrected him immediately. Ron huffed. "Whatever. Same thing."

 **Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

"Good. It's rude to stare." Remus said absentmindedly, not really paying attention to what he was saying. Harry stared at him oddly. "Uh, Remus?"

"Huh? Make owls chase them." Harry blinked at his former professor's reply, but decided he didn't want to hear it.

 **"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

 **"He's not going," he said.**

"Idiotic man." Charlie grumbled. Snape heard him and couldn't help but sneer. "Like a Gryffindor's the one to talk." He ignored vicious glare from the Gryffindor Head of the House. He'd grown used to the glare enough that he could hide some obvious reactions from the glare. He still hadn't forgot the last time when she got pissed off. She had been _deadly_ , and he wasn't going to cause that again.

 **Hagrid grunted.**

 **"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

 **"A what?" said Harry, interested.**

 **"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like thern. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"Harry has the worst luck than anyone else that I know of." Ginny complained, slight teasing visible from her voice. "I mean, who faces snake faced man four times when he's not even an adult?" The twins jumped into the conversation without a second of hesitation.

"I know! My mind would have broken down if I saw his ugly face even once! It's a wonder he's sitting here."

"I have to agree with my devilishly handsome brother. I know I would have been scarred forever if I ever saw his face in my life."

"Fred! George! Stop it in this instant!" Mrs. Weasley yelled, looking genuinely appalled at her sons. She wore an expression that clearly said, 'do you have a death wish?'. Their sons stopped, but Harry's and few others didn't stop smiling amusedly.

 **"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"**

"Harry? By 'stamping out', did your relatives mean beating you?" Neville asked in deadly calm voice, which was very unusual for the shy Gryffindor. But nevertheless, it had almost same effect as Snape's and McGonagall's voice and everyone turned to face Harry. The younger wizard automatically started protesting.

"What? No! Of course not! They never did anything like that."

"Harry. They starved you and locked you in a cupboard even though they had a spare room. I think we have a good reason to believe they beat you." Hermione, always the logical one, carefully told Harry. As much as she didn't want to learn about her best friend's horrible childhood, she needed to know so she could help him.

Harry stubbornly shook his head. Seeing this, Madam Pomfrey promised to herself that she'll talk to the about it later. Besides, she was certain Sirius needed to be tied up so he wouldn't cause any damage when he listened to his godson's childhood. Perhaps this would change Severus' mind about the boy.

 **"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a - a wizard?"**

 **"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that-that school-and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats.**

"Wait. How come she did magic outside the school?" The twins whined, and they were not the only one. Professor McGonagall stood up and glared at them sternly. "She did not do it intentionally. It was accidental magic so she got a warning to not to do it again." That stopped the complaints.

 **I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

 **She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

"She had been wanting to say that for _decades_ , not just years." Snape muttered angrily, but Harry heard it. His eyes became wide and stared at his least favorite professor. Snape had known aunt Petunia? How come?

 **"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as - as - abnormal - and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

"'Blown up?'" Mrs. Weasley was positively fuming. That woman wasn't even considering how much her words would hurt the poor boy. For the first time in her life, she was actually considering letting her children to go pranking. If there were people who deserved being punished, these muggles were definitely them.

"I have blown up my aunt, but killed by the killing curse won't blow you up." Harry said. All his friends and some other people started to laugh when he said that he blew up his aunt.

 **Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

 **"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"**

 **"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

 **The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

 **"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh - but someone's gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

Harry grimaced. "That would have been very confusing."

 **He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

 **"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh - mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a** **great myst'ry, parts of it..."**

 **He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with - with a person called - but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows -"**

 **"Who?"**

"He isn't gonna say anything. Even we couldn't make him, and we've tried everything!" Fred sulked at the memory, and George continued. "Yeah, we've even tried threatening Fang's safety, but that didn't work either."

"You did _what_? That was very cruel thing to do! I can't believe you even thought about it, let alone did it." Hermione shrieked, and the twin raised their hands in surrending sign defensively.

"We only said it! We didn't actually _do_ it."

"Yeah, and besides, we already got into detention because of it. There's no need for you to start yelling at us now."

Hermione huffed, and muttered, "you deserved it." under her breath. Harry worried what the twins' reaction will be if they found out he _did_ make Hagrid say Voldemort's name, and without a lot of effort.

 **"Well - I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

 **"Why not?"**

 **"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."**

 **Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

 **"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

 **"Nah -can't spell it. All right - Voldemort."**

"You made Hagrid say his name!" The Weasley twins were awe struck and admired Harry with new respect. "What can you _not_ do?" Harry squirmed under their stare. "Um, I can't swim?" He offered weakly.

"Now this is why chose him as a prankster!" Harry banged his head on table at their conversation. "He's perfect! He has so many useful skills and who knows what tricks he didn't show us yet."

"I know, Forge! He'll be the best prankster beside us and the Marauders! Oh, just imagine what pranks he'll cause!" They continued to gush like girls and. Harry pointedly ignored them.

"Colin, could you please continue?" Harry asked, groaning when one of the twins squealed , "and he'll be able to charm the girls!".

 **Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too - some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He wastakin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly.**

The Great Hall was deathly quiet. Muggleborns listened to the story intently, although they already heard it once.

 **One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

 **"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

 **"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' - an' -"**

 **Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

Hagrid was doing the same thing again, except that his handkerchief was cleaner and had red stripes. But the noise was still the same.

 **"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad - knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway..."**

 **"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then - an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing - he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a Powerful, evil curse touches yeh - took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even - but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age - the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts**

Mrs. Weasley sniffed at the memory of her family, and Mr. Weasley patted her.

 **\- an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

 **Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before - and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

Remus gripped Harry's hand tightly, and Sirius, still in dog form, lay his front paws and head on Harry's laps.

 **Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

 **"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot..."**

 **"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage.**

"It's not courage. It's foolishness." Charlie seemed to be very determined to not to have any connections between the Dursleys. All of the Gryffindor's nodded, insulted that they were compared to those muggles.

 **He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

 **"Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured**

Sirius and Remus growled as well as others. Harry eyed the Weasley twins nervously. Although he did like the feeling of being cared, he definitely didn't want any of his friends to get into trouble by 'avenging' him or whatever they might call their action. He promised to himself to read the Daily Prophet carefully at tomorrow morning to see if there were any 'mysterious' attacks on a muggle family.

 **\- and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion - asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types - just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -"**

 **But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley -I'm warning you - one more word... "**

 **In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"Good." Susan nodded, satisfied smile on her face.

 **"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

 **Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

 **"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"You actually said You-Know-Who! You never do that when you are with us." Ron exclaimed as he pointed at himself and Hermione.

"I was with Hagrid." Harry pointed out if it was obvious. "And besides, it's only you who is afraid of his name. Hermione isn't."

Ron frowned. "Are you saying I am not worthy of your consideration? I'm hurt, Harry! I'm hurt!"

Harry grinned. "Nah, you'll live."

 **"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see... he was gettin' more an' more powerful - why'd he go?**

 **"Some say he died.**

"And he did die." Umbridge and Fudge said, but everyone ignored them.

 **Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.**

 **"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on - I dunno what it was, no one does - but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

 **Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard?**

 **If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

 **"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

 **To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

 **"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"**

 **Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it... every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry... chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach... dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back... and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

"We are really proud of you for that, you know." Fred commented, grinning. George agreed. "Yeah. Although it wasn't intentional, it was really amazing." They sighed dreamily like fan girls. Harry faced Hermione and Ron questioningly, but didn't get any replies.

"Let them be. Who knows what they are thinking. Just be thankful that they aren't parselmouths, or Hogwarts will be swarming with snakes." Ginny said, casually sipping a pumpkin juice from her goblet. When she saw the twins' faces lighting up, she banged her head on the table, groaning. "I gave them ideas, didn't I?"

"Harry, how wonderful to see you there!" Fred exclaimed, ignoring Ginny's banging. "Now, would you mind if you teach us how to say parseltongue?" At this, even Slyherins perked up in interest and Harry had to face hundreds of eyes trained on him.

"Uh, I'll think about it?"

 **Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

 **"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard - you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

 **But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

"Stupid muggle." Slytherins muttered.

 **"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and -"**

 **"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter' s son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled-"**

 **"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

"Bad move. You should _never_ insult Dumbledore in front of Hagrid."

 **But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER," he thundered, "- INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLEDORE- IN- FRONT- OF- ME!"**

 **He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley - there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

The students roared with laughter, and even adults were having a hard time controlling their facial expressions. Some, like Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout, were openly laughing while most professors schooled their expressions so their amusement weren't so obvious. But even from distance, Harry could see the Headmaster's twinkling eyes and twitching corner of lips of Professor McGonagall. The most unaffected person was Slytherin's Head of the House. He merely sneered in disgust at everyone.

" _Silence!_ " Umbridge's shrill voice cut through the noise and everyone quietened down. She stood triumphantly, and pointed at Hagrid accusingly. "You had used magic on a muggle and risked our world to be found, therefore breaking the Ministry's law. You will be arrested and will be punished after a trial."

Harry shot a panicked look at his friends. It didn't occur to him that Umbridge will use this against Hagrid and by the look of Minister, there was no hope that Hagrid will get a fair trial. The half giant had turned pale, probably thinking about Azkaban, and everyone who liked Hagrid glared at the DADA professor or had horrified expressions on their faces.

"But the rule says that you can't use magic on muggles so they wouldn't know about our world. This one hardly counts because they already knew about our world." Hermione protested, earning grateful look from Hagrid and approving looks from several professors and Madam Bones.

"She has a point, Dolores." Madam Bones said, successfully cutting off Umbridge's and Minister's outraged splutters. Hagrid relaxed, and Hermione received more than many grins and compliments.

 **Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

 **Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

 **"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

People snorted, agreeing with him wholeheartedly.

 **He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

 **"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm - er - not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff - one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job"**

 **"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

"Now this question, you wouldn't get an answer." George said, hundred percent sure of himself. Fred nodded fiercely. Harry exchanged smiles with his best friends but at the end of silent discussion, they decided not to burst their bubbles, at least not yet.

 **"Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."**

 **"Why were you expelled?"**

 **"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

"See? You didn't get the answer." The twins seemed relieved, and the Golden Trio had to bite inside if their cheeks to stop themselves from laughing.

"Of course. How can we _possibly_ find the answer while you, the greatest pranksters of all times, didn't get it?" Harry purred, ignoring a whine of protest from Sirius when he said the twins were the greatest pranksters. Fred and George puffed up with pride, either not noticing the sarcasm or ignoring it.

"Now I bet that you will find out why he is expelled." Fred said putting 4 sickles on the table.

"I think that he will find it out." George said while putting 4 sickles.

"I don't think that he will find it out." Neville, Dean and Seamus said, they all put also 4 sickles on the table.

 **He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

"This was the chapter, who would like to read?" Hagrid asked loudly to everyone. A couple of people raised their hands in the air including all the Weasleys.

"Oh oh I want to read." Ron said happily while he waved his hand around in the air.

"Since when do you want to read a book." Hermione asked suspicious.

"Because this book is about Harry's life."

"Oh alright you get to read the book Ron because you are so pleased to read." Hagrid said, he brought the book to Ron.

 **CHAPTER 5 DIAGON ALLEY**

* * *

Hey, do you want all the books in one story or in multiple stories? Please answer. You can always review and PM me. I will on a Thursday, I will try every Thursday but if I can't update next week. I will update always or I will try to update always on Thursday.


	5. Diagon Alley

**Chapter 5 Diagon Alley**

Last chapter:

" _This was the chapter, who would like to read?" Hagrid asked loudly to everyone. A couple of people raised their hands in the air including all the Weasleys._

" _Oh oh I want to read." Ron said happily while he waved his hand around in the air._

" _Since when do you want to read a book." Hermione asked suspicious._

" _Because this book is about Harry's life."_

" _Oh alright you get to read the book Ron because you are so pleased to read." Hagrid said, he brought the book to Ron._

 ** _CHAPTER FIVE DIAGON ALLEY_**

harrypotterharrypotterharrypotter

 **CHPAPTER FIVE DIAGON ALLEY**

 **Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.**

"Why would you keep your eyes shut? If I were you and I just found out I could do magic, I would be bouncing with excitements." Terry Boot from Ravenclaw asked, puzzled at past-Harry's behaviour. Harry in present fidgeted uncomfortably. He didn't want to explain how often he dreamed about people taking him away and didn't want to get his hopes high.

"I'm sure the book will explain. If not, then I will tell you." Terry accepted this and turned to Hermione , indicating to continue.

 **"It was a dream," he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."**

"Oh. Sorry." Terry murmured, wincing slightly. Harry smiled at him reassuringly. After all, he wasn't the reason why he lived that kind of childhood. So there wasn't any point in making him guilty just because he asked one question. Meanwhile, the staff looked very upset that Harry considered the cupboard as his.

 **There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

 **And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on** **the door, Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

"It's kind of sad. You immediately think it's a dream when something good happens." Lavender commented, looking at the raven haired teen in sympathy. Harry didn't response to her, instead staring at the table gloomily. He could almost _touch_ the anger radiating from his family by all but blood. He almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

 **Tap. Tap. Tap.**

 **"All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

 **He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.**

"Newspaper? Why would an owl bring a newspaper?" Parvati asked, confused. Padma roiled her eyes. Sometimes, her twin sister could be rather thick. "Parvati. Obviously that owl was bringing it to Hagrid since there is no way the Dursleys would order it and Harry only found out about magic yesterday."

 **Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him.**

Luna turned to face him, concern showing on her face. "Are you okay, Harry? Balloon don't swell inside people, you know. You might want to let Madam Pomfrey check you."

"No! I am trying to avoid going to the Hospital Wing as much as possible. I am definitely not going there ever unless it's absolutely necessary let alone go there willingly." Harry shouted, alarmed about the idea of going to Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey fumed at the teen's shout while Harry's friends shook their heads resignedly.

 **He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped i and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

"That was my idea. So people will pay more faster." Umbridge said, looking slightly smug. People stared at her. How was training owls to attack people's stuff until they paid a good thing? Umbridge stayed oblivious to people's thoughts and visibly puffed up proudly, misunderstanding people's stare. Even Fudge looked at her ridiculously.

 **"Don't do that."**

 **Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.**

 **"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl."**

 **"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

"Oh, Hagrid. He doesn't know our money." Professor McGonagall said, shaking her head. The half giant blushed at her comment.

 **"What?"**

 **"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets - bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags...**

"Why do you even keep those things? It doesn't seem useful to me." Parvati asked, wrinkling her nose.

 **finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

 **"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

"Hagrid. He doesn't know what Knuts are." Hermione said exasperated.

 **"Knuts?"**

 **"The little bronze ones."**

 **Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window.**

 **Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.**

"If you are gonna wake up anyway, why did you make Harry do it?" Ron asked, still angry at how Dursleys treated his best friend. Although he knew Hagrid really cared for Harry.

"I was still very sleepy." Hagrid said.

 **"Best be Off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

 **Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.**

"Are you sure you don't want to go to Hospital Wing, Harry? People don't have happy balloon inside them you know." Luna asked, asking Harry with her unique dreamy voice. Harry shook his head.

 **"Um - Hagrid?"**

 **"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

 **"I haven't got any money - and you heard Uncle Vernon last night ... he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

"You haven't got any money?" Ron snorted, raising an eyebrow at Harry. "Really, Harry. I think you are the most rich teenager in the _world._ But here you are, stating you have no money. But don't worry mate, I believe you. It's not like you have _mountains of gold_ in your trust vault. And I can't even imagine amount of money in other vaults."

"Hey! I didn't know there was a Wizarding bank." Harry whined. "And what do you mean by other vaults?"

Surprisingly, it was Draco Malfoy who answered him. "Potter family is the most Ancient and Noble family. Trust vault is only for you to use until you become a legal adult. If your become an adult you will have an access to other. Potter's vaults. If you thought the trust vault was everything Potter family had, then you must be dumber than I've originally thought." He added the last sentence with a sneer. After all, it wouldn't be good if the Dark Lord and his father found out that he's being rather friendly to Potter. He mentally scoffed at his last thought. As if _Potter_ of all people will be his friend.

 **"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

 **"But if their house was destroyed -"**

"Wizards don't keep their money in their house, Potter." Snape sneered at the boy, but was slightly surprised that the brat managed to school his expression.

"All the muggle fairy tales I've read indicated that the wizards keep their possessions in their houses. How was I to know there was a bank?"

"Yes, it is rather confusing for the muggleborns or half-bloods raised in muggle world. You should really inform the muggle parents so they know what they are dealing with, Headmaster. It is very difficult for the muggleborns to adjust if they have no knowledge of magical world. You can't expect them to fit in on their own if they have little information about the world they've just been introduced to." Hermione said, quite happy that she could voice her opinions.

"But of course, there are some exceptions. Hermione fits in _perfectly_ even if she's a muggleborn." Harry whispered to Ron, but loud enough for Hermione and other people around them to hear.

 **"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold - an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

 **"Wizards have banks?"**

 **"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

 **Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

"Nice response, Harry." Ginny teased the emerald eyed teen, smiling slyly. Harry pouted.

"I was eleven-I mean, the whole idea of mythical creatures being real shocked me." Harry quickly corrected himself when he saw the Weasley twins opened their mouths to comment.

"Great job, Harry!" Fred exclaimed, ruffling Harry's messy hair. George patted the teen's back, also grinning widely. "Your lying skill needs more help, but we will make you a true prankster in no time!"

Sirius barked in delight at hearing that his godson becoming a prankster. Remus also smiled, secretly pleased at the idea. On the other hand, the staff grimaced at the possibility of having another prankster, especially a son of the leader of the marauder.

 **"Goblins?"**

 **"Yeah - so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that.**

"Why do I get the feeling that Harry will try to rob Gringotts?" Blaise Zabini wondered out loud, not really caring whether people heard him or not. He was shocked when many people seemed to share his thoughts.

"Harry? You won't try to break into Gringotts, right?" Neville asked nervously, while carefully looking at Harry for any signs of lie. Harry spluttered in shock. "What? Of course not! Why would I even think about doing that?"

"My, my, Harry! When you lie, you shouldn't splutter like that."

"Yes, Harry. We expected better of you." The Weasley twins tsked, and started chiding Harry, irritating the teen more.

"I am _not_ going to rob Gringotts!"

Everyone watched the scene with amusement, including Slytherins. Theodore Nott asked Draco, his lips twitching in amusement. "Do _you_ think Potter will try that kind of thing?"

"I don't know. But the fact that even his friends suspect Potter to break into Gringotts just proves that he is mad, as that half giant said." Draco replied, snickering when Potter silenced and body binded the red heads.

 **Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe - 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you gettin' things from Gringotts - knows he can trust me, see.**

 **"Got everythin'? Come on, then."**

 **Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

 **"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat. "Flew," said Hagrid.**

"Flew?" Several people asked sceptically, not able to picture the giant man flying.

 **"Flew?"**

"We are starting to think like Harry Potter."

Cho commented dryly and her words caused various reactions. People such as Colin and Dennis cheered that they were thinking like their hero while part of the adults (Snape especially) mentally grimaced at the idea of Harry Potter alikes. Rest of the adults smiled fondly at having students like Harry and the Slytherins looked disgusted at being compared to the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry's friends merely vowed to themselves to try not to get into troubles like Harry did without an effort.

 **"Yeah - but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

 **They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

"I know. It's rather hard trying to picture him flying."

 **"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter - er - speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

Umbridge opened her mouth to say something but sharp look from the Minister shut her up. Although Fudge could be quite thick, he knew that more than half of the students liked Hagrid and Umbridge would surely lose the argument if she tried to get him into trouble.

 **"Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.**

 **"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

"Harry. You are not-"

" _I'm not going to rob Gringotts!_ Merlin's sake Hermione! Have some faith will you? Why do you even suspect me to rob Gringotts anyways?"

"You are mad."

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are not. Suicidal, but not mad."

"Ron, not you too!"

 **"Spells - enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the highsecurity vaults.**

"There's dragons in Gringotts?" Charlie shrieked, furious that dragons were treated like that. Bill raised his hands defensively, trying to soothe his brother with no avail. "Whoa, calm down, will you? I don't know if that's true or not. I'll ask and tell you whether there are dragons or not, alright?"

"There better not be any dragons." Charlie snarled, still angry at the thought.

 **And then yeh gotta find yer way - Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

 **Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.**

"I'm sure Hagrid wouldn't have minded some questions." Ginny said softly, and Harry shrugged. "The first rule I've learned was to not ask questions. How was I supposed to change that habit in one night?"

"I assure you Mr. Potter, that you can come to me or any other professors when you have questions." Professor McGonagall said, and Harry grinned up at her.

 **"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

Fudge and Umbridge fumed. How dare that filthy halfbreed to say those kind of things about the Ministry! They became more agitated when they saw Potter brat and his friends nodding in agreement.

 **"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

 **"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, 0 ' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

"I do not!" Fudge shouted haughtily, while blushing very hard.

 **"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?"**

 **"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

 **"Why?"**

"Why? Harry, did you even consider what might happen if muggles found out about magic? Honestly, Harry, you need to think more carefully before saying things." Hermione said, and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Hermione. I was being stupid and I need to think more. Can we move on?" Unfortunately, this statement only encouraged Hermione to say more, rather than being quiet like Harry hoped.

"You are not stupid, Harry! Far from it really. A real problem is that you are being so lazy like Ronald!"

"Oi! I'm sitting right here, you know."

"If you just really put some effort into your work I'm sure you'll easily suppress me. Why aren't you even trying?"

"Alright, Hermione! I promise I'll try my best from now on."

"Really, Harry. I know you don't like studying but-" Hermione stopped in her rant and looked at Harry, stunned. "Just like that? You are agreeing to study hard just like that?"

Harry sighed tiredly and ran his hand through his hair. "One of the Dursley's rules was that I shouldn't 'cheat' and outshine my dearest cousin." Harry rolled his eyes at this. "So I thought it would be the same in Hogwarts. Took me a while to realize they won't care how good my grades will be."

 **"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

 **At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.**

 **Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

"Hagrid, you need to try not to draw attention to yourself."

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall."

 **"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"**

 **"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

Charlie started grumbling at the reminder.

 **"You'd like one?"**

 **"Wanted one ever since I was a kid - here we go."**

 **They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

 **People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

"What was that for anyway?" Harry asked curiously.

"It was Fang's blanket."

 **"Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches. Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

 **"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

 **Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before, and read:**

 ** _HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_**

 ** _UNIFORM_**

 ** _First-year students will require:_**

 ** _1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_**

 ** _2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_**

 ** _3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_**

 ** _4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_**

 ** _Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_**

 ** _COURSE BOOKS_**

 ** _All students should have a copy of each of the following:_**

 ** _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_**

 ** _A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_**

 ** _Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_**

 ** _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch_**

 ** _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_**

 ** _Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_**

 ** _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_**

 ** _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_**

 ** _OTHER EQUIPMENT_**

 ** _wand cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set_**

 ** _glass or crystal phials_**

 ** _telescope set_**

 ** _brass scales_**

 ** _Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_**

 ** _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_**

Gryffindor Quidditch team started snickering at this. Other teams, especially Slytherins, glared at them, some even grumbling darkly under their breath. People who didn't know what was going on only stared at them rather dumbly.

 **"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

 **"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

 **Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

 **"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

"Actually, muggles have very good solutions to difficulties they face in their lives. Some of them are better than our ways." The Muggle Studies professor commented, and many purebloods scoffed at that. Wizards were much better than muggles!

 **Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?**

"Yes. Yes. No." The Weasley twins answered Harry's mental questions, earning some odd looks from people. Harry, on the other hand, scowled in response. "I know that now." He muttered, his scowl deepening when the twin ruffled his hair, making it even more messier than before.

 **If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

"Hagrid has a way of making people trust him, doesn't he?" Ginny said, smiling fondly at the Care of Magical Creatures professor.

 **"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

 **It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it.**

"That was very observant of you." Luna commented, tracing the decorations on the table.

"Uh, thanks, Luna." Harry replied, though it came out more like a question than a statement.

 **Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.**

 **For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut.**

Students laughed out loud at the description. "I like your observant skill, Harry." Ginny cheekily said. "I wonder how you described us." She mused, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"You've better described me nicely, Harry." Hermione threatened playfully along with others. Harry couldn't help but groan. He prayed that he described then nicely, or he knew he was going to be pranked. Yes, they were his friends, but the smartest witch, best pranksters and others were included, and who knew what they could do if they worked together?

 **The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

 **"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.**

"I wish he stop doing that. It hurts my knees." Harry complained, rubbing his knees. "And I also wish he hadn't revealed my identity. Those people were overwhelming me."

"You'll just have to get used to it. People will react that way often, you know." Ron patted Harry's back in mock sympathy.

 **"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this - can this be -?"**

 **The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

 **"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter... what an honor."**

 **He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.**

 **"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."**

 **Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

"See what I mean by overwhelming? They are acting like they've met a superhero or something." Harry whined, showing his discomfort of his fame compeletely.

"Actually, in a way, they did."

"Oh, be quiet 'Mione." Hermione smiled at her nickname.

 **Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

 **"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

 **"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."**

 **"Always wanted to shake your hand - I'm all of a flutter."**

 **"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

 **"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

"Now, that would have been quite exciting for him." Ron commented, amused. "I bet his ego became bigger because you remembered him, Harry."

 **"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again - Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

 **A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

The Golden Trio glared at the book, scaring poor his friends who didn't know of Voldemort at Quirrell's head as well. Harry was grumbling under his breath, which Remus and Sirius could hear thanks to their sharp senses. They picked up, "stupid stuttering idiots", "who would want to have another face?" and "almost died because of him". They didn't understand much, but the latter caused them to mentally brace themselves for life threatening situation that they were sure Harry would get into.

 **"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

"Unfortunately." Harry muttered, worrying Remus and Sirius even more. If that Quirrell hurt Harry in any way, he will pay and they were personally going to make sure of it.

 **"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you."**

 **"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

 **"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

"He was such a coward. And his stammers made it so difficult for us to study." A seventh year Ravenclaw complained, and many others, mostly Ravenclaws, nodded in agreement. "But I still don't know why he disappeared."

 **But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

 **"Must get on - lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

 **Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.**

 **Hagrid grinned at Harry.**

 **"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh - mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

"Oh, he was trembling. But not because of excitement." Harry muttered darkly. This time, his friends also heard it, and they grew concerned. Neville asked him first, concern clearly shown in his face. "What are you talking about Harry?"

"It will explain in the book." Harry answered, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Only Ron and Hermione seemed to know what he was talking about.

 **"Is he always that nervous?"**

 **"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was** **studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag - never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's me umbrella?"**

 **Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming.**

"Before you ask, Luna, it was just expression. My health is perfectly fine and I am not going to Madam Pomfrey. But thanks for your concern." Harry firmly stated before the blond could ask. The Ravenclaw smiled at him. "Okay, Harry. It's your choice after all."

 **Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.**

 **"Three up... two across he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."**

 **He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

 **The brick he had touched quivered - it wriggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.**

"It was amazing, wasn't it? It was really impressive." Hermione and other muggleborns commented.

 **"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

 **He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

 **The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.**

 **"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

 **Harry wished he had about eight more eyes.**

Ron shuddered when that reminded him of a spider. "You just had to mention it, did you?" He whined, shaking his head as if trying to shake off an invisible spider.

 **He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad..."**

"Was that you, mom?" The Weasley children asked in chorus, causing Mrs. Weasley to blush hard but she nodded in reply.

 **A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest ever -"**

Gryffindors snickered at the reminder, while Draco had a sour expression on his face. Once again, people who didn't know about Harry's broom in his first year could only look around, confused.

 **There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon...**

 **"Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

 **They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was -**

 **"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet.**

A first year Hufflepuff shivered, hugging herself tight. "They creep me out." She explained when her friends threw questioning look at her.

 **He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

 ** _Enter, stranger, but take heed_**

 ** _Of what awaits the sin of greed,_**

 ** _For those who take, but do not earn,_**

 ** _Must pay most dearly in their turn._**

 ** _So if you seek beneath our floors_**

 ** _A treasure that was never yours,_**

 ** _Thief, you have been warned, beware_**

 ** _Of finding more than treasure there._**

 **"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

"I am not going to rob it." Harry snapped, irritated. Really, although he could be reckless, he would never rob Gringotts out of all places... Right?

 **A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

 **"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."**

 **"You have his key, Sir?"**

 **"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers.**

Bill winced. "He wouldn't have liked that."

 **The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

 **"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.**

 **The goblin looked at it closely.**

 **"That seems to be in order."**

 **"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

Professor McGonagall groaned at the Head Table. "Oh, Hagrid. He'll now try to find out what that is." Snape added his own thought. "Of course, if he wasn't a complete dunderhead and knew how to control his idiotic curiosity, he wouldn't have risked his life." The Head of the Gryffindor ignored him.

 **The goblin read the letter carefully.**

 **"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have Someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

 **Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.**

 **"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

 **"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

"Hagrid, you just made him more curious." Professor McGonagall sighed, and Hagrid blushed.

"Sorry Professor."

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

 **Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in - Hagrid with some difficulty - and were off.**

 **At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible.**

"That's impressive, Harry. Most people only remember until around fourth turn." Bill complimented, and he noticed Hermione blushing. "Don't tell me. You remembered at least fifteen passages, didn't you?" Hermione nodded, all the while hiding her red face. But Harry knew she was secretly pleased with her accomplishment.

 **The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

 **Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late - - they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

 **"I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

 **"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid.**

"That's not the right answer." Hermione exclaimed, eager to answer Harry's question along with several Ravenclaws. "Stalagmite is-" Ron lunged and covered her mouth with his hand, successfully cutting off her long explanation. "Hagrid, please continue." Hermione struggled, her outraged shout muffled by the ginger haired teen's hand. Although she would never admit it, it felt nice that Ron was hugging her in order to cover her mouth.

 **"An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."**

 **He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.**

 **Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

"Richest teen in the world." Ron coughed, sending a grin towards Harry.

 **"All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

 **All Harry's - it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.**

 **Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

 **"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough.**

"No. Muggle money system is way easier." Hermione, now free from Ron's grasp after promising not to continue her explanation, commented.

 **Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

 **"One speed only," said Griphook.**

 **They were going even deeper now and gathering speed.**

"I thought there was only one speed?"

 **The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom,**

"Do you want to die? Honestly, Harry, stop trying to get yourself killed!" Harry's friends yelled, Remus and Sirius even checking if there were any injuries. Harry swatted their hands and in Sirius' case, head and grumbled to himself. Really, that was years ago, and even if they find some bruises, how were they going to know whether it was from that action?

 **but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.**

 **Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

 **"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

 **"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

 **"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

 **"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.**

"Their grins are creepy." Hannah and Susan shivered even though it wasn't cold in the Great Hall.

 **Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least - but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.**

Snape concealed his shock well thanks to years of spying. Potter managed to stop himself from asking a question? That was a surprise.

 **"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

 **One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life - more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

"Obviously, Harry." Ginny rolled her eyes, smiling at Harry.

 **"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

 **Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

 **"Hogwarts, clear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact. "**

Draco and Harrry exchanged glances, both knowing what happened here. Draco silently threatened through his eyes. _You've better described me greatly, Potter_. Harry understood, and he could almost hear the sneer from the silent threat.

 **In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes.**

Most of the people knew who was the boy and glanced back and forth between the Gryffindor and the Slytherin.

 **Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him) slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.**

 **"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"**

 **"Yes," said Harry.**

 **"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to took at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

"Foolish boy." Snape muttered, but it was so quiet that no one else heard it.

 **Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

"How dare you compare me to that pathetic muggle, Potter." Draco snapped, but with less hatred than before which Harry noted with a surprise. He shrugged the surprise off and answered him. "You was rather spoiled like Dudley and had some bullying behavior in you. I'm sure others are also reminded of Dudley." The Malfoy heir merely scowled and looked away, shocking Harry more. Since when did Draco give up so easily?

 **"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

 **"No," said Harry.**

 **"Play Quidditch at all?"**

 **"No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

 **"I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

 **"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

"You are not stupid, Harry." Luna said, looking up at the enchanted ceiling. "Far from it really. And I must say, you are also a great teacher. Do you have any thoughts on becoming a DADA professor, Harry?" The members of DA agreed with the blond when she said Harry was a great teacher, and the raven haired teen looked slightly embarrassed. "I didn't really think about it. But I might consider it."

"But it's cursed!" Ron protested. "Harry might die if he took over that position!"

"But it's _Harry Potter_." Colin pointed out, as if it was the answer to everything, which, to him, was probably true. "He can do impossible things! I bet if he did become a DADA professor, he will break the curse and will be a fabulous teacher!" He chirped, clearly excited about it.

Umbridge, after eavesdropping on their conversation, scoffed. As if that boy could be a teacher. Even if he did, she bet he would be the worst teacher ever.

 **"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

Draco flinched a little from all of the Hufflepuffs glare.

"Scared, Malfoy?" Daphne Greengrass asked, raising her eyebrow challengingly. Draco sent a scowl at her, and straightened up, composing himself. He was not intimidated by bunch of Hufflepuffs and challenged by a girl.

 **"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.**

 **"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.**

 **"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

 **"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

 **"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.**

 **"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage - lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

"Well, if he's drunk, of course he'll set fire or do some accidents like that. I mean, who can do magic properly when you are drunk?"

 **"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.**

 **"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

 **"They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.**

 **"Oh, sorry," said the other,. not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"**

 **"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

Draco mentally cringed. Although he would rather die than saying to Potter or to anyone else, he was sounding rather arrogant and insensitive. When he first met Potter and didn't know his name, he was really looking forward to having a real friend. Crabbe and Goyle were actually like bodyguards than friends, and he hadn't met any kids around his age yet, except for some pureblood kids he met for politics, because of his father's orders. He truly wanted to be his friend, but didn't know how, so he copied what his father usually did and some behaviors of purebloods. When Potter rejected his offer of friendship at the train, he took it as personal insult, started bullying him and his friends. It sounded quite silly when he thought about it, being an arch enemy just because of small rejection. But even if he did accepted his friendship, they would have never been friends, especially now since the Dark Lord had returned.

 **"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"**

 **But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

 **"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

 **Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

 **"What's up?" said Hagrid.**

 **"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"**

"Harry Potter not knowing Quidditch." Oliver grumbled to himself, grimacing at the thought. "That's a crime! He's a youngest seeker in century. How dare the Dursleys keep Quidditch away from Harry!" Angelina shook her head while listening to her former Quidditch captain rant. The Dursleys abused, neglected and starved Harry and he was focusing more on Quidditch. Really, he had some mental issues. Perhaps he got hit by a bludger too hard?

 **"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know - not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

"See? Even Hagrid agrees with me."

 **"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pate boy in Madam Malkin's.**

 **"-and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in."**

 **"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh were - he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line 0' Muggles - look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

 **"So what is Quidditch?"**

 **"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like - like soccer in the Muggle world - everyone follows Quidditch - played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls - sorta hard ter explain the rules." "And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

 **"School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but -"**

"Hagrid!" Entire Hufflepuffs, including Professor Sprout, shouted. Hagrid quickly apologized.

 **"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff" said Harry gloomily.**

 **"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

"You shouldn't accuse the others to be bad just because majority of them seems like it." Luna said, startling the Slytherins along with other Houses. Did that odd blond just _defended_ them? The Slytherins?

"If you keep resenting them for being 'dark', then of course they are going to the dark side. After all, it isn't their fault that there were several dark wizards from the House. Besides, other dark wizards were from other Houses, they just aren't so well known." Luna continued.

People like Ron were clearly struggling to see it that way, since they hated Slytherin for long time. Others like most of the Ravenclaws didn't pay much attention to what she was saying, thinking it was just nonsense. Dumbledore on the other hand, seemed very pleased at what Luna was saying. However, Harry wasn't sure whether he agreed with Luna or not, yet. After all, he had got into life threatening situations because of people from Slytherins.

 **"Vol-, sorry - You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

 **"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

 **They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue- Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

 **"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

The twins cheered at this, thumping Harry's back until it ached. "Good thinking, Harry! It seems like turning you into a proper prankster isn't going to be as hard as we thought."

 **"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

 **Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).**

"Happy birthday, Harry!" The twins chorused, earning weird looks from Harry.

"You do realize that was about four years ago, right?"

 **Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.**

 **"Just yer wand left - A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

 **Harry felt himself go red.**

 **"You don't have to -"**

 **"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at - an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."**

"You shouldn't have told him what you were going to give him, Hagrid." Fred whined. George continued on. "Yeah, it wouldn't be a surprise, if you did."

 **Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing.**

"Hedwig." Harry said, very fond of his owl. She was the only friend during the summer in Dursley's house, and she could be very motherly sometimes.

At that moment Hedwig flew

 **He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

 **"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now - only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

 **A magic wand... this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.**

"I know. I was also looking forward to that the most." Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff commented, grinning at Harry. He had grown rather close to him after DA, and he wanted to be good friend, especially after his behavior during their second and fourth year.

 **The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

 **A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

 **"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

"Oh, so that's why the chair was broken?" Hannah asked amusedly. "When I went to Ollivanders, the chair was broken. I guess I got there right after Harry left."

 **An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

 **"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

 **"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

 **Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

Several first years nodded in agreement.

 **"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it - it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

"He has a great memory, doesn't he? He remembers every wand he sold correctly." Hermione said admiringly.

 **Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

 **"And that's where..."**

 **Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.**

 **"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..."**

 **He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

 **"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

 **"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

 **"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

 **"Er - yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

 **"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.**

 **"Oh, no, sit," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

"Hagrid, we are going to teach you how to lie better." Fred said seriously. "You are so obvious."

"Yes, and besides, I believe if you can manage to keep things in secret, those three," George jabbed a finger towards the Harry, Ron and Hermione. "won't nose around and get into troubles so much." The Golden Trio winced. It was true that they were rather nosy and their curiosity was often sparked by Hagrid.

 **"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now - Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

 **"Er - well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

 **"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

 **Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils,**

"Why do you need to measure that?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked, but no one answered him.

 **was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

 **"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."**

 **Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.**

 **"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try -"**

 **Harry tried - but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

 **"No, no -here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

 **Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

"How many wands did you try?"

"Uh, about thirty wands or something?" Harry answered, feeling anxious for some reason. The anxiety increased when people turned to gape at him. "What?"

"Harry, the more wands you try, the more powerful that wizard is." Hermione said slowly, and to Harry's dismay, he could see she was awed by him. Thankfully, Ron sensed his discomfort, and nudged Hermione with his elbow. The bushy haired witch looked annoyed at first, but when she noticed Harry's expression, she quickly controlled her expression. "Uh, I mean, um, it must have been hard for you. I wasn't entirely convinced I was a witch, so I was very anxious when I didn't find the correct wand."

As she babbled on, Harry relaxed his tense body. For now, most people seemed to say their own experience in Ollivanders, so he wasn't in the centre of the attention. He sent a grateful look towards Ron and Hermione, and closed his eyes. He was powerful wizard? But Hermione was at the top of the grade... True, he didn't really try because of the Dursleys, but even if he did he wouldn't be able to beat her... Ugh! All he wanted was to be normal, but it seemed like the Fate was trying her best to stop him.

 **"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

 **Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious... "**

Majority of students cheered along with them.

 **He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious.."**

"What's curious?"

 **"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"**

"We are thinking like Harry again."

 **Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.**

 **"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand.**

Hermione and several others, mostly from Ravenclaws, sighed as they dreamed of having a perfect memory like that.

 **It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar."**

"Your wand is brother wand to You-Know-Who's?"

People started gawking at him again, but this time with more fear. It was like his second year all over again. People accusing and labelling him based on something he couldn't control.

"Yes, his wand is brother wand to You-Know-Who's, so what?" Ginny snarled, with a look that promised violence if it was needed. She reached for Harry's hand and gently squeezed it, offering some comfort, and was delighted when the raven haired teen squeezed back. Ron, Hermione, Remus, Sirius and many others also glared at the rest of the students, daring them to judge Harry. They gulped and immediately turned away from those vicious glares.

 **Harry swallowed.**

 **"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter... After all, He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great."**

 **Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

 **The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.**

 **"Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

 **He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

"I know. It was so weird, after seeing magic." Hermione agreed. "Before, science was one of my favourite subjects. But it was rather useless when I saw magic."

 **"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

 **Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life - and yet - he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

 **"Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry - I mean, the night my parents died."**

"Exactly!" Harry agreed with his book-self. "Why am I even famous for what I don't even remember?"

To say Snape was shocked was an understatement. Although Potter had been hinting he didn't like his fame, he kept throwing them aside and believed he was just acting while he was just like his father. But hearing the book actually say that, it just proved that Potter truly didn't like his fame.

 **Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

 **"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts - I did - still do, 'smatter of fact."**

 **Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.**

 **"Yer ticket fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September - King's Cross - it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me... See yeh soon, Harry."**

"Did you send him a mail, Harry?" The Weasley twins asked, not bothering to hide their excitements. When Harry shook his head, they pouted, sulking. "But that's no fun."

"Who wants to read the next chapter?" Ron asked everyone.

"I! I! I! I! I want to read the next chapter?" Daphne Greengrass said happily.

"Alright" said Ron awkward, he levitated the book to Daphne, Daphne began to read when she had the book.

 **CHAPTER SIX THE JOURNEY FROM PLATFORM NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS**


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